Reborn
by Moonlightroses1
Summary: Millions of years have past and Evil has once again threatened the lands but the tides of fate are changing and our hero has been captured and raised by evil hands
1. Prologue

Over millions of years past since Demise was sealed away and Ghirahim was pronounced dead. Our hero's soul, as told my Demise before he was sealed away, was cursed to fight the evils that threatened to take the power of the Triforce and was reincarnated every several hundred years when Evil began to strengthen its powers and threaten the lands.  
>Our hero has been through many hardships over the many years he lived and over his many lifetimes, but he does not remember any of his previous lives. No one does.<br>Evil now begins to once again strengthen and covet the Triforce and as always our hero is once again reborn. Unfortunately, his new life now will be one that could change the curse that is bound to his soul and destroy the lands that protect the whereabouts of the Triforce.


	2. A Hero is Born

Fires were blazing though the lands of Hyrule. Monsters attacked towns, slaughtering innocent people mostly women and children. Soldiers tried to protect the citizens but were quickly overcome by the outstanding number and size of the monsters. Hylians fled, trying to escape the hoards of demons killing there families and friends, just trying to leave with their lives. Unfortunately very few escaped and those who did somehow leave didn't live for long. Everyone prayed to the Goddesses, Farore, Nyru, Din, and even Hylia, hoping they would answer their prayers and be saved. They prayed for the ancient hero to descend from the heavens and come to their rescue. Little did they know that the hero was already there among them but in his current condition he is unable to do anything to save the people of Hyrule.  
>A woman clothed in a yellow sundress soaked in crimson was one of the few that were able to escape, sadly she did not leave unscathed. She had dark brown almost black hair with panicked and pained stricken jade eyes. Her hair was matted with blood and dirt along with her pale skin. Within her arms was a month old baby boy wrapped in a torn blue blanket. The baby had dirty blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes. His skin was that of the woman's, pale and dirty. The baby was under a sleep spell to keep him unaware of what was happening and to ensure he was quiet. The woman had tears running down her eyes but she held back her sobs trying to stay quiet as well despite her pain. Her skull was split open quite a bit and her back, arms, and legs were sticky and warm from the open wounds that leaked her life liquid, letting it drain from her drying body.<br>The woman kept running though, she ran as fast as her body would let her trying to make it to Kakariko Village which to everyone at the moment was a haven that was nearly impossible to reach since it was extremely far away from any other populated place, and with the fires consuming the lands of Hyrule and the army of monsters with an unsatisfied need for bloodshed, it made the village that much more impossible to reach.  
>Since the Sheikah were the ones who lived in the village and there were a decent amount of them, they were able to put up a barrier around Kakariko Village to protect those who could make it there and those who already lived there from the demon hoards. Only mortal beings that were endangered by the monsters could pass through the barrier. Unfortunately, the barrier would eventually weaken and shatter but for now, with all the Sheikah working their magic, the barrier would hold for a long time.<br>The woman started to see the village up ahead. Her eyes brightened with hope and happiness, relief flooded her veins along with adrenaline as she ran faster, pushing past her limits and ignoring the pain the threatened to engulf her body. She stumbled several times trying to stay balanced, but she was starting to lose this battle. Her vision started to fade and her body began to feel extremely heavy. She started to lose feeling in her limbs and her hearing started to echo. She panted, her breathing shallow and short as sweat pooled down from her forehead.  
>She stopped for a moment and looked up the mountain that sealed away the hidden Kakariko Village. A steep trail that cut through the mountain, led up to the village. The woman was so close, close enough to actually see the barrier surrounding the village. She started to carefully walk up the steep mountain trail holding the baby boy close and secure. She did not run since most of her energy was depleted, so she just slowly walked up but was losing it all quickly.<br>The woman was about to take the final turn up towards the village when she collapsed on the ground. She dropped the baby boy at her side a few paces away. She tried reaching for the baby when a foot came down onto her hand. A dark chuckled echoed within the woman's ear. She looked up and saw a man clothed in white with a red cape and an aqua blue diamond earring hung from his only visible ear. The mans white hair covered half his face perfectly and his eyes were as dark as the woman's hair.  
>The woman's eyes widened as memories flooded within her mind causing excruciating pain. She screamed in pain, clenching her eyes shut and continued to yell out in pain. The man laughed louder and his eyes filled with pleasure at hearing her pain.<br>Finally the woman stopped screaming and was out of breath. "Y-you!" she choked out eyes full of fear and confusion. The man grinned. "I see you remember me, spirit maiden, or I should rather call you now by Zelda." He chuckled and looked from Zelda to the baby a few paces away. "You have had a child. Wonderful!" He mused taking his foot off of Zelda's hand and slowly walking towards the baby. "STOP! Stay away from him you demon!" She hoarsely yelled getting up and grabbing his arm. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder with a sadistic grin. "You cannot do anything to me in your pathetic condition. I should just end your's and your child's life right here, right now." he stated in a bored manner. Zelda's eyes widened tears streaming down her pale cheeks. "Don't hurt him Ghirahim. He's only a baby, barley a month, he's never done anything to you! Kill me if you must, just let him live! Don't hurt him!" She cried, pleaded practically. Ghirahim showed an amused expression and grinned as he stared at the baby laying helpless on the ground. "Fine, I will not kill this child. Instead, I will take him in and make him my slave. As for you" Ghirahim turned around taking his arm from Zelda's grasp and stared into her eyes. "I will take your life to ensure you cannot do anything to stop me. I can sense the tides of fate changing and I can already tell this child possess great power." Zelda's eyes widened at hearing this. She knew her child was special but could he really be the new chosen hero. She shook her head in disbelief. "Tell me," Ghirahim started catching Zelda's attention. "What have you named this pathetic innocence?" He asked casually but his tone took on a sadistic sound as he grinned with evil delight.  
>Zelda stayed quiet not wanting to answer, trying to ignore him. Ghirahim's grin was replaced with a frown and a bored expression. "Tell me the child's name or else I'll name him myself. And I warn you, I do not give good names to slaves." He threatened annoyed with Zelda's defiance to answer. Zelda didn't want her baby to be called anything else but his true name especially by this demon. She sighed and quietly answered. Ghirahim raised a brow not understanding what she had said. He grabbed her shoulders and leaned in close to hear what she had said. "What was that?" he asked smirking. Zelda held back a desire to bit his ear off and answered him. "His name is Link!" She hissed and slammed her forehead against the demons.<br>Ghirahim reeled back, letting go of Zelda and gripped his head. A bruise was already forming but he decided not to heal it. "You bitch!" he cursed taking a step back towards Zelda and backhanding her across the face, causing her to fall down on the ground. She gripped the side of her face as it stung painfully from the slap. He gripped her by the hair and pulled her up to his level and eyed her. She winced in pain as the wound from her head reopened and blood dripped onto the ground. Ghirahim threw her hard against the ground taking his hand back and licking her blood. "Shame, your blood doesn't taste as good as it did long ago, but I guess that just tells me your aren't as pure as you were either." He shamelessly stated. He snapped his fingers after lapping up Zelda's blood and an onyx rapier appeared in his hand. "Goodbye my once pure spirit maiden, may the goddesses spare your miserable soul." Ghirahim hissed as he brought his blade down on Zelda.  
>Zelda cried out in pain but was quickly silenced as her soul left her body. Blood from her covered the grass, staining it a dark crimson. Another snap and Ghirahim made his sword disappear in a flurry of diamonds, returning his attention back to the baby boy who still slept on the ground and who was unaware of his mothers death even though her blood was splattered all on his face.<br>The demon grinned sadistically and approached the child, picking it up carefully and cradling it within his arms. He could tell the baby was under a sleep spell and knew he would have to undo it once they were at his castle, but for now he watched the infant sleep peacefully in his arms.  
>"I already know you will be a pain in my side. I already know what your future is suppose to be, and I already know who you truly are. What I don't understand is why I feel I must let you live and not kill you now so I won't have to deal with you. But I guess having you as my slave will delude any annoyance you will bring me." Ghirahim sighed and touched the child's soft face with his hand then retracted it. "You are no use to me until you are at least old enough to clean my room, but I guess I will have to take care of you myself to make sure there is no defiance or rebellion stirring within you and I know there will be since I know your soul." he stated then turned his head up to the smoke covered sky then back down to the child. "By the time your old enough to be a proper slave, you will know fully well who is in charge and that you, the hero chosen by the goddess, the one that foiled my plans long ago, the one destined and cursed by fate to save the land from evil, will know that you can't do anything to stop me, that I am your master, and you must always obey your master, so for now, sleep well Link, before you know what hell really is." He chuckled loudly, his grin wide. He took away one of his hands that cradled the infant and raised it above his head. "This land will soon be nothing more than a burned wasteland that belongs to my master." And with that he snapped his fingers disappearing within a shower of diamonds, leaving Hyrule to burn and be attacked by his hoards of demons.<p> 


	3. New Home

Not long after, Ghirahim appeared at his castle in the demon realm. The demonic aura surrounding the castle was extremely strong and the demon lord loved the feeling of its power. It was good to be home.

He looked around taking in the familiar sent of his surroundings and its sights. It's been far too long since the demon lord had been here and it was great to be back.

Looking down at the still sleeping child in his arms, Ghirahim held the baby a little closer to his perfect body and made sure he had a secure hold on the infant before taking long strides into his domain.

Walking into the main room, the demon lord had already come across several of his underlings. He approached them, keeping the sleeping child as close as possible in case one of his minions tried to eat him.

"I need all who are skilled in child care, preferably human child care." The demon lord announced and when no one moved and just stared at him he continued. "Quickly, quickly, bring them to me. I do not want to wait longer than I have to!" The little demons did as they were told and ran out to find those Ghirahim wished to see.

After all his underlings were gone he walked over to the farthest wall and leaned against it while waiting for his minions return. He looked around the room and took in the familiar surroundings of his beautiful castle.

The floor was made of fine cream colored granite and the walls were beige. There was a design on the granite floors of dragons in a fire dance it seemed. The ceiling was very high and pillars shot up from the ground, holding up the large structure. Several spiral staircases were spread throughout the domain.

The highest point of the castle is where Ghirahim's room was and a couple of his closest and most loyal servant's quarters were. The lowest point of the castle is the dungeon where many have died and some say is haunted from tormented souls.

Everything in between is the main floor with the court room, kitchen, and laundry room and the other upper levels have Ghirahim's large bathroom, the servant's bathroom and the much lower quarters for the other underlings.

The demon lord sighed in boredom hating to wait so long. He looked down at baby Link's innocent, sleeping face. He contemplated on whether or not he should wake the child now or later.

Before Ghirahim had a chance to figure out what to do with the sleeping child, several of his loyal servants came through the door, cautiously walking up to their superior.

They kneeled down on one knee and bowed one hand behind their back and the other over their chest. Ghirahim stood up from the wall he was leaning on and stood up straight and began to slowly pace in front of his servants that stood before him.

"I've brought you all here since you all are skilled in the art of child care. I have with me a human infant who is going to need all the care we can truly offer." The demon lord stopped his pacing and fully faced his kneeling underlings. "Please rise from your bows and show me your faces, so I know you are truly paying attention." He requested.

They did as he asked and stood up, making eye contact with the demon lord before he started to pace once again. "This child is special. I can sense his power dwelling within his small body and hopefully he will be the one to tip the scales in our favor, which is why I ask all of you to help me take care of this infant. Make sure all of his needs are met and he is treated like your very own. He is to be kept among the living and not harmed. If you have any troubles with him, bring him to me and I will take care of it."

His underlings all nodded in understanding and some even replied 'yes my lord' or 'yes Lord Ghirahim.'

Ghirahim stopped his pacing once again and showed his servants the child that they would be taking care of. The demon lord did not let go of the infant, he only let them look. "Now go prepare a proper chamber for this child on the top level near my own quarters and I need one of you to stay behind and help be bathe him since he is positively filthy." He commanded and they all scurried out as quickly as they could, leaving only a young demon girl behind.

The demon girl had purple hair that fell effortlessly down to her lower back. Her eyes were pure slivery wisps that showed variations of gray, like smoke. She wore a dark blue kimono with a red bow tied around her waist and black boots.

Ghirahim eyed the demon girl for a moment then asked, "What is your name?" The girl made eye contact with the demon lord and after a few moments of silence she spoke. "My name is Mayumi, it means 'true bow.' I am gifted in archery and am the instructor for your other underlings who are to learn this difficult skill." She replied then waited for her superior to speak again.

The demon lord waited a few, letting Mayumi's words sink in. He liked she was gifted in archery since he will need someone to teach baby Link when he is old enough to hold a bow.

"Alright, Mayumi, go and draw a bath in my private bathroom. I will be there shortly after I wake this child from its deep slumber. Until then, wait for me there." Ghirahim instructed. The demon girl nodded and said "yes my lord" then quickly left.

The demon lord sat down on a nearby chair after Mayumi left and watched the infant's chest slowly rise and fall as it slept.

The demon placed one of his hands over the child's small body and began to break the spell. He recited the sleep spell backwards quietly.

It took a while but eventually the spell broke and the child' sapphire eyes fluttered open and stared up into Ghirahim's dark ones.

The child did not cry or even make a sound. His eyes full of curiosity and searched as far as his eyes would allow him to see and made them look back at the demon lord.

Ghirahim also didn't say anything as the child woke and looked around with those beautiful sapphire pools of curiosity. He just stood from his chair and walked up the spiral staircase that led to his private bathroom with the infant still in his arm.

As he made it to his destination, he quickly opened the door and walked in, seeing warm steam rise from the hot bath. He made his way to the side of the bath and ran his fingers from his free hand in the relaxing liquid, then turned to the demon girl.

"Bring me several crimson towels and quickly." The demon lord requested. Mayumi just stared at him not understanding why. Ghirahim just sighed annoyed at the girl's ignorance. "Don't just stand there; I gave you an order, now go!" Mayumi did as he told her and left to get towels even though she didn't know why since there were already some nice white towels with red embroidering in the bathroom, but she stopped questioning it since it would only bring trouble to herself for questioning her superior.

As he watched her leave, Ghirahim made his way to the side of the bath once again, but this time sat down and snapped his fingers. An onyx dagger appeared in a flurry of diamonds into the demon lord's hand.

The dagger had a dark reddish-purple aura surrounding it and it had a slight pulse as if it were alive. The demon lord made the blade dance between his elegant gloved fingers as he stared down at the silent but fully awake infant.

The child stared wide-eye at the small dark blade as Ghirahim played with it. The infant even tried reaching for it with his pudgy arms but defiantly could not reach it.

Ghirahim chuckled light heartedly a bit at the child's pathetic attempt to take the dagger. Finally he stopped playing with it and held it firmly within his palm.

The demon girl rushed back in with a couple crimson towels like the demon lord wanted and saw her superior with the dark blade within his hand.

"What are you doing my lord?" She asked a hint of shock in her voice as she watched the demon lord slowly lower the small blade down under baby Link's left eye.

Ghirahim paused for a moment to answer, looking at her from his peripheral vision. "I am going to mark him as my own. I am going to make sure that everyone knows he is mine and only mind and when he is old enough to understand what the mark means; he too will know he belongs to me and me alone." He grinned and returned his full attention back to the infant underneath his dagger.


	4. The Mark and the Blanket

_So that's why he wanted crimson towels. _Mayumi confirmed. As if the demon lord read her mind he spoke, "Yes, those crimson towels are to prevent any blood that seeps from this child from dropping and staining my pristine floor and to also stop the blood from escaping when I'm done so the relaxing bath water won't be tainted red once he start washing him."

The demon girl with the towels walked closer and some of the towels on the floor around Ghirahim and kept some ready to stop the infants bleeding when the demon lord was done.

The dark dagger pulsed vigorously, wanting baby Link's life blood to spill over its blade and mark the child with an intricate design.

Ghirahim felt the pulse within his gloved palm and grinned beginning the process.

The demon lord cut into the helpless child's soft cheek and instantly blood quickly made its escape and cascaded down onto the towels around them.

The infant began its cries of agony, hating the sensation of pain now erupting throughout his left side of his face. His cries were cracked and gagged sounding but they were loud and blood curdling. The demon lord loved the sound of his suffering, his smile wide and sadistic.

The design cut into baby links left cheek was a simple design. A single spiral with small diamonds hovering around it, almost like a sun. Even though the design was small and simple the pain and impact it had was all the same.

Blood pooled profusely from the incisions and the infant's tears of pain mixed with its blood, staining his face, making him look abused, forgotten, and alone in this world.

Finally after much agonizing pain and loud cries of never ending torcher, the demon lord pulled the dark blade away and examined his work.

Through the bubbling streams of blood laid the insignia of ownership. Ghirahim was pleased with the outcome of his artwork and it seemed like it was already scaring over with darkened, black skin.

Baby Link still cried since his left cheek stung painfully but it wasn't as bad as when the design was being carved into his skin.

The demon lord caressed the infant's right cheek, wiping away stray tears and whispering soothing words to the distressed child.

Soon, baby Link stopped his cries and just sniffled a bit, but was calmed by Ghirahim's soft words and gentle touch.

Mayumi brought the towels still in her hands and gave them to the demon lord.

Ghirahim began dabbing the bleeding area carefully, slowing the crimson liquid's escape and soon stopping it completely.

The demon lord smiled are caring smile then looked up from baby Links innocent face to see Mayumi watching in full interest.

Never has the great Demon Lord Ghirahim been so gentle to anyone or anything yet here he was carefully and soothingly calming a human infant and taking great care in stopping its blood from escaping.

Ghirahim narrowed his eyes at the demon girl. "You may leave now. I shall bathe the child myself to ensure the mark, scars correctly and to ensure that it no longer bleeds. But please make sure the child's room is fully prepared by the time I arrive to put him to bed." He ordered taking his attention from Mayumi to his blood stained hand.

The demon girl bowed respectfully and quickly left to make sure all was ready.

The demon lord brought his stained hand to his lips and lapped up the life liquid. It was sweet and pure, full of innocence and youth. It tasted intoxicating.

After thoroughly cleansing his gloved hand, Ghirahim turned his attention back to the child who was watching the demon lord intently with such pure curiosity emitting from those deep blue orbs.

Ghirahim began to unwrap baby Link from his tattered blanket. Suddenly the demon lord felt something small and soft grab hold of his hands.

He eyed the child curiously and saw the infant's own hands stopping Ghirahim's own from taking the destroyed blanket away.

The demon lord raised a brow but continued on taking the tattered material away from the child and throwing it on the floor in a heap near the door.

Baby Link whimpered as he watched the blanket taken away from him. He loved that blanket and hating parting with it.

Ghirahim couldn't help but look from the tattered heap to the whimpering child who eyed the blanket with longing. The demon lord shook his head in disbelief. "You're attached to that awful thing? Goddess, are you pathetic." He rolled his eyes annoyed at how anything could want something so ruined and ugly.

The child understood the demon lord's words and lowered its head in sadness and sniffled, feeling tears sting his eyes.

Ghirahim saw baby Link's eyes become glazed over with salty tears and quickly started calming the child once again. "Don't worry, you'll get that tattered blanket back since it means so much to you but it's definitely getting a good wash." The child's eyes started to clear and an adorable smile appeared on the infant's face along with a small giggle.

The demon lord couldn't help but smile at this and kissed the child's forehead and looked into its sapphire eyes that were full of happiness. "You'll get it back as you sleep tonight." He softly murmured. Baby Link giggled again at hearing this, his smile bright.

Ghirahim then started to wash the infant carefully, making sure to rid of all blood and tear stains plus any dirt that was found on the child's body.

The water soothed baby Link's skin and forgot all about the scar on the left side of his face. The demon lord decided to add a little scented bubble bath as he washed the infant's fine hair.

The child's tiny hands would grab at the small bubbles that formed within the water and laughed for fun. Ghirahim would sometimes laugh a little himself at baby Link's cuteness.

Not long after, the demon lord finished bathing baby Link and wrapped him in a warm towel that was not stained with blood, and took hold of the tattered blanket as he walked to the top floor, into the infant's room.

The room was pretty simple itself. The walls were forest green with some little tree's painted in little columns. There was a wooden cradle in the corner with a small blue lamp with clouds on the lamp shade. A wooden dresser by the large window on the far end of the room and the floors were carpeted with a grey shaggy rug. It was a good living space for a young child. Ghirahim's underlings were nowhere to be found within the room.

The demon lord walked over to the cradle and gentle put baby Link inside. As Ghirahim was pulling his hand away, the child grabbed one of his fingers and held it firmly as if saying 'don't go.'

Ghirahim chuckled a bit noting the strong hold the infant but the demon lord easily pulled his hand away and started to rock the cradle gently while quietly singing lullabies to baby Link.

Quickly the child's eyes started to droop and soon fell asleep. The demon lord ceased his actions and quietly left the room, closing the door softly behind him, then walked down to the wash room. "I guess I have to clean this old thing since I did sort of promise the child he'd have it back while he slept" Ghirahim sighed and entered the wash room.

He quickly took of his gloves and started to scrub away at the tattered material, careful not to tear it more that it was, getting out any stain the demon lord could. After several minutes of scrubbing and adding soap for the stains, the blanket was hung up to dry and since there was a strong breeze blowing, the blanket would be dry quickly.

Ghirahim waited and waited and even finished eating an apple.

Finally the blanket was fully dried and was taken off the clothes line. The demon lord grabbed his gloves and put them back on then teleported into the sleeping infant's room and quietly and carefully placed the tattered thing over baby Link's body. The child instantly reacted and gripped the material firmly and protectively even as he slept.

The demon lord sighed in content and teleported into his own room which was only across the hall from Baby Link's.

Ghirahim quickly removed his clothes and put on his sleep wear then crawled into his large bed. Pulling back the red sheets and white comforter and placing them over his body, he soon was in a state of relieved unconsciousness.


	5. Ghirahim's Journal

_**Author's comments**_**: Ok so here's the deal. I'm going to help fix any confusion any of you have with the story **

**So first off the story takes place several hundred years after the twilight invasion in other words long after twilight princess.**

**Second, Link is a month old but he is as big and as smart as at least a five or six month old maybe even smarter.**

**Third, I do read all the comments/reviews that are submitted and I thank you for them. They give me a motive to keep going along with some ideas every now and then**

**And Fourth, I am going to be lazy this chapter. Yes I know kind of sucks but trust me I have reasons and I just want to get to when he's older. Plus I'm pretty sure nobody really wants to spend the next chapter or so reading all about what Link did as he grew in full detail or what Ghirahim had for breakfast (I was kidding about that last part but I hope you get the point) so I'm just going to pretty much skim through what happened over the next several years to when Link is a teenager through something I like to call Ghirahim's journal! :D **

**Oh and yes all the journal entries are going to be from the demon lords POV (point of view) and there will be several entries in the chapter and each entry will have a part of what was going on.**

**Oh and I might put a couple of these journals here and there when I need more of a….I guess you could call it a filler chapter. Anyways hope I didn't disappoint anyone to bad but just understand that we need to finally start getting into the adventure fully so things can actually happen. **

**Oh and warning possible spoilers!**

**Now, enough of my ramblings. ENJOY! :P**

****Ghirahim's Journal

_Many months have gone by now since I brought that child into my domain and already I can sense his power growing stronger each passing day and yet with all the power building up within the child, I still can't help but admire his innocence as pathetic as it truly is. _

_I have also noticed his quick learning abilities and just how much he's really grown. It makes me ponder quite frequently about what he will be like when he's much older._

_::::::::::::::_

_The child is almost two years now and I have taken the liberty of teaching him how to walk. It took longer to teach him that I was hoping for but he did finally learn and is now all over the place. _

_I have also started to teach him to speak so he no longer has gibberish contently running from his mouth. I decided to teach him his name which was very easy for him to learn, and then I tried to teach him the word 'Master' since that is what he will be mostly calling me._

_Again he learned quickly but when I tried to teach him my name he gave me a dumbfounded expression and failed miserably at pronouncing it correctly. Thank the Goddesses for my great patience otherwise this child would become permanently mute._

_::::::::::::::_

_After much patience and hardship the boy has started to speak in full sentences and has even started to pronounce my name correctly aside from a few slip ups here and there and the occasional mumbles or incomprehensible words, the child is making great progress and he is only two and a half years._

_::::::::::::::_

_The boy is now four almost five and my underlings and I have started the learning process for him. My underlings teach him the histories of the land, basics of logic and math, and even some science since it is a very important matter._

_I have decided to teach the child the art of battle. Yes, I know, it is stupid of me to teach someone who is supposed to be my enemy how to fight, but I doubt the child will truly defy me and plus I'll make sure not to teach him everything just what he needs to know.  
>I have even started to teach him a little magic, but it's the weak kind that can't do much good. So far, only a little fire spell.<em>

_::::::::::::::_

_The boy had gotten a little out of hand today. He was being overly defiant and was being a little smart ass. He is only six years old now and already he started to be very bratty. I had to punish him sternly. I did give him warnings and chances like the generous demon lord I am but he still pushed past the boundaries. I sent him to his room numerous times and even spanked him but he still was being defiant. _

_Eventually I only had one option left and I almost killed me to do it. While he was in his room I had stormed in scolded him harshly then took his little tattered blanket he cared so much about. He started to cry and yell and scream, begging me to give it back, but I did not. I marched right out, slamming the door behind me and into my own room putting the ragged material someone safe._

_I would give it back to him when he has settled down and stopped this horrid behavior._

_::::::::::::::_

_The defiance and punishments went on for many days, going on weeks. He refused to do his chores and even ran off without telling anyone. Sometimes he would be gone for days. I would eventually set out to look for him and find him easily but this one time he ran off was like he wasn't even on Earth anymore._

_I had searched everywhere. There weren't many places to go in the demon realm either and yet he couldn't be found. I was actually worried for the child's life. _

_When he did come home, I couldn't even punish him. I just scooped him in my arms and hugged him tightly afraid to let go in fear he would run off again. I even asked him "Do you have any idea of what you put me through?" I meant to sound scolding but the shock and relief in my voice made me sound soft._

_Link was actually crying. I even lost count at how many times he said 'I'm sorry.' Every time he did though I know I shushed him softly telling him it was all right and to not do it again as I rubbed his back trying to sooth him._

_After that, I gave him his blanket back and he no longer caused me such troubles._

_::::::::::::::_

_It's been a while since I wrote in this journal since the last time I updated was when Link was six and being a spoiled brat. The child is now eight and has gained much skill and much more respect. His magic has strengthen immensely and that little fire spell I taught him has grown from a little flame to a ring of fire when summoned. _

_I had to make an area for him to practice his magic that wouldn't be at all affected by the flames of the inferno. It was a tedious task but I was able to fine a room that was never used inside the castle and make it indestructible._

_The boy has also been excellent with a sword and the art of battle. He learned and remembered all the tricks and tips I taught him and has even come up with some moves of his own that has sometimes caught me off guard when we practice._

_His other studies though, I must say, he is quiet lazy in and becomes rather bored easily during them. _

_His math is sloppy at best but I do know he understands the material but he just doesn't care about it._

_His logic is horrid. Instead of thinking things through, he'd rather rush into a situation without knowing anything and just hope for the best. I do know thinking on your feet is a good thing do at times but if you can contemplate on the situation then you could have a better outcome._

_As for history, he falls asleep quite frequently. He only seems interested in certain things during the history of the lands, like the Goddesses or even the ancient instruments used back then._

_In these studies, I am a bit glad he is not alone. Other demon children attend these classes with him and some have even befriended him, keeping him occupied while I also brush up on my own studies._

_It's been so long since I was among the lands. So much has happened during my absence, I was surprised to find out what exactly went on. My interest only increased when I read about the Hero of Legend._

_Apparently as I found out, a boy clothed in green appeared out of nowhere and save the lands of Hyrule from an evil king named, Ganondorf but suddenly disappeared when the evil king was sealed away which only resulted in the flooding of the lands and soon another hero arose when this Ganondorf broke free of the seal that bound him and wreaked havoc. _

_The hero was also clothed in green._

_And finally the last thing I read was about the recent Twilight Invasion that happened several hundred years ago. Another hero in green rescued the lands of Hyrule from again Ganondorf and the twilight creatures that started to devour the land in twilight._

_Hmm, Goddesses sure like there hero's in green._

_I had already come to the conclusion of these past heroes being the original sky child's reincarnations since they had the courage and unbreakable spirit to do such tasks._

_::::::::::::::_

_A few more years have passed since I last updated and now the boy is eleven going on twelve soon to be a rambunctious teenager. He still has that tattered blanket of his and every time I tell him how ruined it is and how it's time to give it up he gets defensive and protects the old thing._

_Besides not allowing me to rid the ragged materials presence, all has been quiet peaceful. I have been reading up ways to revive my master which so far have only led me around in circles and have been able to fight thoroughly with Link instead of going overly easy like I have in the past._

_The child now has his own little sword. It's an ancient sword used by his old reincarnate. It's called the Kokiri sword and its perfect size for the boy and his magic has once again increased dramatically. _

_He has taught himself another spell that teleports him but only to a place he was at previously and only once. I guess it's more like a warp point to teleport to. _

_He told me what it was called and even the fire spell I taught him when he was little. The fire spell is called Din's fire and the one he just learned is called Farore's wind. _

_He has taken more interest in his studies now and became an active listener. Sometimes he even tells me what he's learned and how interesting it was even while we battle._

_Besides all this, something phenomenal happened a few nights ago. I had just tucked the boy in, watching him wrap protectively around that awful blanket when I walked into my own room and started looking through the various tomes on by desk, looking for something that could be fully useful in reviving my master_

_It was late at night, way past my own bedtime when it happened….._

_To be continued…._

**Yup have to wait until next chapter to find out what happened. I will put what happens in as much detail as I can since it has more to do with the plot so yeah. **


	6. The Storm and Spirit

A single small lit candle sat undisturbed in the middle of Ghirahim's cluttered desk of books. An angry storm raged war with the land outside the quiet castle.

Not many storms occur within the demon realm since it's usually a hot climate. The land is quite barren and there's little water and for sixteen hours of the day its night.

Time does move regularly like the mortal realm but most of the time its night instead of day and with the intensity of the heat no matter what time it is, it's no wonder demons are cold blooded.

This was one of the nights the temperatures dropped drastically because of the storm and every demon was allowed to skip their duties and just stay inside to keep warm.

Even Ghirahim who is never affected much from temperature was feeling the creeping chill of cold wrap its fingers wrap around his skin even though a warming fire was contently alive within the hearth of the fireplace a few paces away.

Lightning lit up the world of darkness below with a loud crack from each strike. Sometimes strikes of lightning would even hit the castle but didn't do much damage to the cobble stone structure.

The demon lord tried and tried again to find something that would help him in any way to revive his master but found little to nothing useful, just stuff he already knew. He was getting frustrated at these failed attempts to find useful information within the ancient tomes.

Ghirahim sighed from fatigue and stress while pitching the bridge of his nose, gathering his thoughts. A ghost of a headache threatened to attack full force which would only irritate the demon lord even more.

Suddenly the light of the candle went out as a chilling breeze was felt go by in the room. The demon lord was a bit surprised but more annoyed that his only light source went out and he didn't feel like relighting it.

Ghirahim went to the window to make sure it was completely shut after the cold breeze had passed. He found it sealed tight with no chance of any sort of wind escaping through it. How was there a breeze then?

Another breeze went by, this time a little more violently. The demon lord turned from the window and felt the wind come through his door even though it was closed. He walked over to the door and opened it and felt another breeze pick up. He shivered a bit from the intense rare cold and followed the breeze to Link's room.

Slowly opening Link's door a strong, harsh wind whipped around and out of the room. Ghirahim held back another shiver from the harsh chill and breathed deeply, thinking about things that are warm so he wouldn't feel so cold.

The demon lord walked over to the child's own large window and saw it was also closed shut. There should be no wind of any sorts coming inside the castle let alone this room.

SLAM!

Link's door that was previously left open by the demon lord slammed shut on its own. There was no wind this time to cause such an event.

Ghirahim swung around to face the door. His eyes then widened in shock at what he was seeing.

Standing (or rather floating) was some sort of spirit. The spirit was transparent but you could see it perfectly as if you were only looking at a really pale person. It was clothed in a green tunic, tan tights, brown boots and gauntlets, and a matching green hat. Poking out from under the hat was dirty blond locks of hair.

Ghirahim stared at realization at who this spirit is but couldn't believe it even though it was right there in front of him.

"Sky child?" he asked in shock, confused about everything that was happening.

The spirit turned around to reveal his shiny blue orbs, locking his gaze with Ghirahim's dark eyes.

The demon lord knew all too well who those eyes truly belonged to and no reincarnation could ever truly copy them.

"Hello, Ghirahim. Long time no see. Well for you. I see you every day inside that body." The spirit nodded his head towards the sleeping figure on the bed in the corner.

The demon lord looked over at the child's sleeping form and saw how limp he was. His breathing was deep and even so he was still alive, but everything else never moved, not even a simple twitch was made.

"Why are you here?" Ghirahim started turning to look back at the floating spirit of the sky child, "or a better question would be...how are you here?" He asked eying the floating spirit suspiciously.

The spirit didn't answer; instead he just crossed his arms and stared back at the demon lord, a small smile on the spirit's lips.

Ghirahim scowled. "Answer me!" he demanded, clenching his fists trying to hold back his anger.

The spirit smiled grew and he shook his head no, as if toying with the demon lord.

Ghirahim growled in anger. With his hands still down at his sides, he snaps his fingers and summons an onyx rapier and grips the hilt tightly. He raises the dangerous blade up to the sky child and smirks.

The spirit rolled his eyes. "You can't hurt me." He stated bluntly. The demon lord ignored him and aimed a deadly swing at the spirit's abdomen. The sword only went right through the spirit's transparent form like thin air.

Ghirahim was not at all surprised just angry and annoyed that he couldn't in any way harm the one he loathed so much. He took a step back and glared at the floating sky child.

"What will it take for you to explain yourself, sky child?" He growled though clenched teeth, trying to hold back a tantrum that just wanted to break out.

The spirit just shrugged tauntingly.

The demon lord took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment causing his sword to disappear and his fury to die down. He opened his eyes then walked over to the side of Link's bed and sat down. He looked down at the boy's breathing, unmoving body and gently ran his long elegant fingers through the boy's messy hair and was being careful as to not wake him even though the child couldn't be woken since his spirit, his very soul was out of his body and was now watching Ghirahim's movements curiously.

The spirit has seen Ghirahim many times be gentle and affectionate towards his vessel but never really thought about it or even cared much, until now. He could now see how much the demon lord cared for the limp body of the child and decided it was time to spot messing around.

"You want to know why I'm here?" the sky child's spirit asked.

Ghirahim was jerked from his thoughts. His hand stilled and pulled away from the sleeping child as he looked up at the floating spirit. He nodded in response, happy to finally start getting answers.

The spirit sighed. "That child, the one I dwell within is about to go through hell. I came out of his body to try and warn someone though I was hoping to not catch you attention."

The demon lord frowned at that but none else as he willed him to continue.

"I will not say much but what I do say is important. Things are about to change. You can feel it, I can feel it, and everyone can feel it. You taking my reincarnate have thrown the fabric of fate, of destiny, into a swirling void of uncertainty. Even the goddesses themselves never predicted such an outcome." The spirit explained. The demon lord took the spirit's pause as a chance to thoroughly digest what he had said. But what did it all mean?

"Ghirahim," the sky child's spirit spoke up breaking the demon lord's train of thought so he could focus on the spirit. "I can't stay out of my body for much longer now that the storm is coming to its end so listen to me carefully. That child, my reincarnation is going to go through brutal trials possibly far worse than anything I or my past reincarnations have even gone through especially now that you've tainted his pure mind with your demonic evils. I warn you this, your patience with him is going to grow thin but you can avoid such if you take him back to the realm of light to Kakariko Village so the Sheikah can take proper care of him, so that thread of fate can be woven properly again and things can go back to how the goddesses had planned." The spirit explained urgently.

Ghirahim shook his head and stood from where he sat on the bed. "No, I will do no such thing. He is my slave and even bares the mark of my ownership. No one, especially those goddess serving dogs are going to touch him unless I say so! Now leave spirit before you regret leaving your body!" the demon lord threatened.

His rage was started to boil over at such a suggestion. The child was his and he would never give him up no matter how annoying he would become. His bond with the boy has grown so much since Link was an infant. How could anyone, especially the child's own soul suggest throwing all of that away?

The spirit sighed and bowed his head his hard eyes meeting the demon lord's one last time. "I warned you but I did suspected you not to comply." He shrugged then turned the limp body on the bed. "I will be back by the next storm, for now have fun dealing with the storm that will brew inside the boy"

The spirit then faded back into the child's body. The boy finally started to move his limbs and woke up, staring at the demon lord's back. "M-master?" was all he said before slipping back into unconsciousness.

Ghirahim smiled when he heard the boy's voice and was glad he was alright. He looked at the child from his peripheral vision and saw he was already back asleep.

The demon lord's smile faltered when he started to really think about what he just heard. What did the sky child mean when he said the boy was going to go through difficult trials?

A large yawn escaped Ghirahim's mouth showing how tired he really was. He made his way into his room and quickly made himself comfortable on his bed falling asleep.

The storm outside then stopped and the clouds that covered the sky broke apart, revealing a blood red moon that turned the world below an unholy purple tint and showing the damage the storm left behind.

_**Aurthos comments:**_** eh I thought it would turn out better and I realized just how OC I've made the character. OH WELL! I'll try and make them more themselves in the future. Oh and also, I don't wanna hear anything about how Link doesn't talk. In my book he does and this is a fanfiction in which anything can happen.**

**Anyways ya hope you like it, if not, im sorry to disappoint. **


	7. Unwell

The sun finally rose within the demon realm. The heat was intense today, but all the demons were thriving in the great warmth. Unfortunately for Link, he was not a demon so he was sweating quite a bit. He's been use to this kind of heat for as long has he's lived in the demon realm, but no matter how use to it he was, his body still perspired.

A few weeks ago the boy had celebrated his 14th birthday. His party was held at the castle and most everyone in the demon realm came, especially his friends.

The child's training has increased now that his regular studies were slowly coming to an end. He started to become quite a match for his Master when they danced with their blades. He even got a new sword that was much bigger than the little Kokiri blade.

His new sword was nothing really special. It was a simple sword. The hilt was a dark crimson and the blade was the color of perfect snow. It was made out of metal that would never stain.

He even got a shield made of wood and metal which he got accustomed to very fast.

When Link would get bored and want to practice his skills, he would meet up with his friends and practice with them, especially when Ghirahim was busy.

The boy was the best of his friends when it came to sword fighting, but when it came to magic and logic, he was the worst.

The child only just learned his third magic spell weeks ago and was told by his master that he could no longer learn anymore magic. He wanted to learn more, but respected and obeyed the demon lord's order.

He would never disobey the great demon lord who is his master and the one who raised him after all.

Today, Link was finishing up his work around the castle. Since he turned fourteen, he was also given more work to do, like cleaning all the chandeliers, which he was doing now.

This was his finally thing to do for the day. Cleaning the chandeliers was a very tedious task, especially with them being so high up and there being so many spread throughout the castle, and the heat wasn't helping at all.

Lucky for him, they only needed to be cleaned once a month, so he wouldn't have to worry about stepping up on a tall ladder and working for hours dusting and polishing the chandeliers for another month.

Link sighed, already physically drained from the work and the heat. He was almost done, only two more chandeliers to go.

The boy climbed the tall ladder once again, panting a bit and whipping his forehead full of sweat with the back of his hand. He started his steady work.

Half an hour later, Link was done with the second to last Chandelier. _Only one more to go! Hang in there, Link!_ He thought to himself. He started to climb down when suddenly he started to see black and white spots dance in front of his eyes. Next thing he knew he was in the arms of one of the other servants.

"Link! Link! Are you okay?" He asked frantically. Link blinked a couple of times and looked up at who caught him. "I'm alright, Daisuke." Link smiled to show Daisuke, he was alright. Daisuke smiled back.

"Alright. You're lucky I was nearby when you fell from atop of the ladder, otherwise, who knows what your health would be reduced to." Daisuke chuckled a bit and helped Link up to his feet then looked up at the final chandelier the boy was supposed to clean and grimaced. "How about I clean that last chandelier for you, eh?" he suggested and looked back at Link with a smile.

Link was hesitant, not really knowing what Ghirahim would do if he found out someone helped do his work. He was taught to do things on his own and only allow help if allowed. He wasn't sure this was allowed and really didn't want to find out.

Daisuke saw the boy's hesitation and sighed. "I don't think, Lord Ghirahim will mind so much, especially if we don't tell him. If you feel you need to tell him, just explain what happened. He's a pretty reasonable Lord as long as you don't lie. You should know that. Just go on with you day." He explained taking the materials Link had for cleaning and already started to climb up the ladder to clean the final chandelier.

Link nodded and smiled, leaving the room to go meet up with his friends in the courtyard.

Once outside, the boy immediately spotted his three friends who were waiting for him, with swords at the ready. They were talking to each other not even noticing Link come out of the large double doors of the castle.

The courtyard was a beautiful, tranquil place and perfect for duels. There was a stone walkway that stretched from the large double doors and circled around a circular ring made for battles. There were also flowers of all sorts spread around the large structure of the castle along with various trees, despite the landscape everywhere else being so barren.

As soon as he was about to take a step towards him, his head started to pound rapidly against his skull. He gripped his head trying to calm the pounding but it only increased.

Hot flashes of pain started to spread throughout his body. It felt like bolts of electricity were coursing through his body and burning away the nerves.

Since he was twelve, he's been having sudden headaches and sudden flashes of hot pain every now and then but it would always fade quickly away just as fast as it would come one. He never told anyone about the sudden pain that would creep on without warning. Not even his Master, who cared about his health and well-being.

This time though, the pain was much worse than in the past and it didn't stop shortly afterwards like it usually did. It continued on and the pain increased every second.

Soon, Link couldn't even stand. His knees buckled under him, making him collapse onto the cold stone walkway of the courtyard. He wanted to cry out in pain, but didn't want to alert his friends or anyone else for that matter.

The child bit back his screams, keeping them stuck within his throat. He clenched his teeth on the inside of his lip to prevent any sounds from coming out. Within seconds he tasted the metallic, coppery taste of blood. He must have accidentally bit through but the pain of the inside of his lip was nothing compared to the pain coursing through his body with every beat of his heart.

Spots once again dotted Link's vision, quickly making him lose focus on reality and succumb to darkness.

It seemed like seconds later when Link opened his eyes, only to see that he was in a different location.

The child saw he wasn't in the courtyard anymore; instead he was in his Master's room. His eyes grew wide as fear started to take over. He knew no one was allowed in his Master's room without permission. He looked down and saw he was also lying on Ghirahim's bed.

Link looked around and saw no one was around, not even his Master. The room looked undisturbed except for the messed up blankets he was covered with.

He quickly whipped the blankets off his body and sat up, swinging his legs off the bed. When he was about to stand an awful dizzy spell came over him, halting his actions.

"You know child, you shouldn't be getting up so suddenly after collapsing like that." Someone scolded. Link knew that voice all too well. His dizziness faded as he looked in the direction of his Master.

Ghirahim walked over to the boy and sat down on a chair by the bed. "Lie back down, now. You are not fully recovered and I can see in your eyes how exhausted you are." He said looking straight into those swirling blue pools.

Link did as he was told and swung his legs back onto the bed and layed back down. Before he could do it himself, the demon lord took hold of the thick red and white blankets and pulled them over the boy's body.

Link was thinking about, why he wasn't in his own room, in his own bed, and was about to ask when Ghirahim spoke up as if reading his mind. "I thought I could keep a better eye on you, if you were in here instead of in your own room. Besides, my room and bed are much larger and comfortable than your own, so you should be able to recover from whatever happened in no time." He explained.

The boy shifted a bit in the bed, getting more comfortable then closed his eyes, trying to sleep, but he couldn't fall asleep or even come close. He then heard a snap of fingers and opened his eyes, looking up at his Master.

Within the demon lord's hand was the one thing that would easily help Link fall asleep. It was the tattered blanket the boy has had since infancy.

Over the years, the blanket had gained many more holes in it and was immensely falling apart. Pieces of thread from the material would sometimes come of it, causing more holes to appear and the sides to unweave.

As much as Ghirahim hated the thing, he knew all too well how much Link loved it and knew how much it helped him sleep. Plus the demon lord was the only one who knew that the boy still had the tattered material in his possession.

Not even Link's close friends knew he had it and Ghirahim would be the only one besides Link himself to handle the destroyed thing. The demon lord would never let anyone else touch it, unless the child gave the okay.

Link's face suddenly changed from one of confusion and exhaustion, to one of happiness.

The demon lord quickly laid the tattered blanket on top of the boy. Immediately, Link cuddled with the ugly thing contently.

"Link," Ghirahim started gaining the child's attention. "What happened? Why did you faint like that?" he asked, concern and curiosity filling his voice.

Link didn't really want to say anything, after all he wasn't thinking much of it, and so he just stayed quiet.

The demon lord frowned, not at all liking the silence the boy was giving him.

"As your Master, I order you to tell me. And don't play coy with me, child; I know you know something about this." He commanded. The boy knew, once you were told to do something, you had to do it, because even if it is something tiny, the punishment will always be big.

Link made eye contact with his Master and sighed. "It's nothing, Master. Don't worry, it won't happen again, I promise." He assured, wondering why this was such a big deal.

"Your damn right it's not going to happen again, because you're going to tell me what happened so it can be prevented!" he hissed, getting irritated.

The child realized that Ghirahim wasn't going anywhere until he said something about the situation. "I don't really know what happened. I just felt excruciating pain." He sighed. The demon lord furrowed his brows at hearing this. Link continued on.

"In all honesty, Master, I didn't want to worry you. Plus, it's not a big deal, really. I'm fine now." The boy gave a weak smile, trying to convince Ghirahim to drop the subject and forget this happened, but the demon lord would not do such thing so easily.

"How long has this sudden pain thing been going on? I'm sure this is not the only time it has happened." Ghirahim slowly asked, watching the child intently.

Link didn't really know what to say as he looked down at his blanket, thinking. Of course the demon lord wanted an answer, and the child did have one, but he was so tired and didn't want to speak at all. Unfortunately he had to say something to please his Master.

The boy looked back up at his Master and held up two fingers. Ghirahim's eyes widened a little and asked, "Years?"

Link nodded, setting his hand back down on the bed and closing his eyes. He just wanted to rest and he could feel a headache coming on.

The demon lord watched him quickly slip into unconsciousness.


	8. Losing Light in Darkness

Ghirahim slowly got up from where he sat and strode out of the room, the back of his crimson cape gliding effortlessly behind him in the nonexistent breeze.

Two years ago, he faced the Sky Child's spirit out of the boy's body, telling him that everything was changing and nothing is going according to the goddesses plan.

The demon lord quickly made his way to the old library. He looked out the many large windows at the sky, as he walked, to see if there was at least one cloud in the sky that promised a slight chance for a storm.

Unfortunately the sky was perfectly clear as the sun started to set over the horizon. Night was about to fall once again over the overly heated demon realm.

Ghirahim pushed open the large door into that led into the library and walked in. Slamming the door behind him, he instantly headed towards the back of the library, not even looking at any books on the side he passed. He kept his eyes focused in front.

The library was immensely large with thousands of books on large shelves spread widely throughout the room. There were several isles of bookshelves that led down to the back of the library. Three chandeliers hung within the large room from the high ceiling. A large wooden table sat near the entrance with a few chairs around it and with old tomes stacked tall on its smooth surface.

The demon lord reached the back of the room and started running his finger down the dusty spines of the old books quickly finding a book he wanted.

Pulling it out of its spot on the shelf, he opened the book immediately and started flipping and running his finger down the pages, skimming over its context until his finger stopped.

He read the page carefully, memorizing its words, and headed over to the only table in the room.

Setting the book down, not even caring to sit down, Ghirahim began to perform some sort of spell. He brought one of his hands up and rested his pointer, middle, and ring finger on his forehead, closed his eyes, and started muttering words under his breath in the demon language.

After a few minutes of continuously muttering the spell, dark clouds started rolling in over the demon realm. The sound of thunder could be heard as they started settling over the castle. Flashes of lightning could be seen and the pitter patter of rain began beating against the windows.

Ghirahim then lifted his free hand up over his head, feeling hot energy course and spark though is fingers. A few more moments later, the energy that was building up was shot straight out of his raised hand, through the ceiling, into the sky, keeping the sudden storm in place for the time being.

Ghirahim opened his eyes afterwards, removing his hands from the positions they were in, bringing them down to his sides.

He looked towards the window and grinned to himself. The storm spell he used acted faster and more powerful than he expected.

He could already hear gasps and shouts of his loyal demons from outside trying to find quick shelter. He could also feel the temperature drop drastically from the sudden storm.

Ghirahim raised his hand done admiring his outstanding work then snapped his fingers, teleporting back to his room.

Once back in his room, the demon lord drew his attention in the direction of the sleeping child in his bed.

As expected the boy was still asleep, but instead of a relaxed expression that was there when he left, there was one of restlessness and a hint of pain.

Link's breathing was a bit shorter than usual and he started to toss and turn a bit as sweat pooled from his forehead.

Ghirahim's concern for the boy grew, and then within a blink of an eye, the boy stopped his motions. His face relaxed once again, and his breathing deepened.

The demon lord recognized the way Link was sleeping. It showed that his soul's essence was no longer dormant inside his body. But if his spirit was no longer inside the child, then where was he?

Ghirahim looked around the room carefully and saw nothing, but did feel a week breeze coming in from under the door like last time. He walked to the door and opened it, feeling the current of wind become slowly stronger. He followed the trail of wind to its source.

The wind led the demon lord down the large hallway, down the large spiral staircase, all the way down into the dark dungeon.

The demon lord felt the breeze he'd been following become much stronger and more violent when he opened the large door that led into the dungeon.

There was barely any light. The room was almost pitch-black except for a lit candle on the wall here and there. Ghirahim had to rely on his perfect vision which was as good if not better than a remlits.

The dungeon also smelled of death and decay, with water dripping from the run down cobble stone ceiling and pooling underneath, creating puddles, some pretty deep, in the cells and in the dark hallway. Demonic rats squeaked and ran, hiding as the demon lord made his way to his destination. Some of the rats were even as big as a medium sized dog and some had multiple eyes instead of just two.

Ghirahim continued his decent in the dungeon, crinkling his nose at the fowl sent of rotting corpses and rat feces. Finally he made it to a part of the dungeon that had wind whipping all around almost like a form of tornado.

Ghirahim turned to the closest cell that seemed to be housing the source of the wind. Snapping his fingers, a large chain with hundreds of keys on it appeared in his hand.

This was the only way the demon lord could really get in the cells this far back in the dungeon. These cells are in the very back of the dungeon and were enchanted to repel magic of any sorts and were enchanted from his Master, so he couldn't even dispel them, as much as he wanted to so he wouldn't have to go through the hassle of finding the right key.

Luckily, the keys were numbered along with the cells making the task of finding the right key much easier, but the fact that he still had to go through such a stupid task annoyed him to a great extent.

A few minutes of picking through keys later, Ghirahim found the right key and unlocked the cell door. Pushing it open he finally spotted exactly what he was looking for, or who he was looking for.

"Of all places, sky child, why did you pick here to appear?" The demon lord asked irritably.

The dungeon's disgusting smell was starting to get to the demon lord. As great as this place probably was for a prisoner to suffer and rot, Ghirahim was pondering on whether or not he should send some servants to come and clean this place up a bit.

"Because of that makeshift storm you conjured up, I was actually forced out of my body. I was in no way ready to leave my vessel for at least another couple years but your storm was strong enough to force me apart from the boy. Besides I suspect you made that storm because you have questions you want me to answer, so in order for me to stay among the living in this spirit form, I had to come down here because of the high quality of soul energy in here." The sky child explain, with a slight tone of bitter anger could be heard. "Hurry and ask your questions. I don't have too long here." He said impatiently and annoyed.

Ghirahim narrowed his eyes at the sky child's spirit, obviously not liking the souls tone. Oh how he wished he could cause him some form of pain just to make him stop with the attitude.

The demon lord breathed in deeply as best he could despite the musky air, trying not to succumb to a need for bloodshed.

"I want to know what is happening to my little slave child. Why did he pass out like that and experience sudden pain? Why had this been going on since we last spoke?" Ghirahim growled his anger rising a bit thinking about the boy's condition and how it's possibly because of this spirit even if the spirit is the child's soul.

The spirit sighed and eyed Ghirahim, then rolled his eyes. "I told you before. About the trials and the hell the child was going to go through. Of course it is only going to get worse if he remains here but-"The sky child then was suddenly interrupted.

"What do you mean 'it's only going to get worse?" The demon lord suddenly shouted, clenching his fists and staring daggers at the nonchalant spirit.

"Because of the strong demonic aura that surrounds this realm and because of the boy's strong light aura, the child cannot live here healthily anymore." The spirit said simply. Ghirahim furrowed his brows in confusion.

The spirit sighed again. "The child is losing his light that helps him survive. If that dies so does the child!" He explained irritably then continued. "Ghirahim, if you really care for the boy then take him back to the realm of light."

"I will not take him to those goddess serving dogs! I already told you that!" Ghirahim snapped.

"I'm not saying take him there. Just take him to the mortal realm where he belongs and do what you want there!" The sky child argued.

The demon lord actually kept quiet after that, thinking about the sky child's words carefully. He didn't want to lose the boy.

The child, is in fact, his best and most loyal slave and the bond they shared was stronger than anything the demon lord has ever had with any of his followers, especially servants.

Ghirahim turned on his heel, ready to leave. The sky child's spirit saw this and raised a brow at the demon lord's backs sudden appearance.

"What? No more questions? I thought I was going to be stuck here until I could no longer linger around in this form." The spirit remarked.

Ghirahim turned his head a bit and looked over his shoulder at the sky child's spirit from his peripheral vision. "I got the information I needed. There is no need for you now. Besides I now know what I must do." He paused then turned around to give a dramatic bow. "Goodbye, sky child."

The sky child just smirked then gave a less dramatic, plain bow back, then stood up straight, watching the demon lord turn to leave.

Once out the cell door, Ghirahim closed it, locked it, then snapped his fingers, causing the makeshift storm to quickly come to a stop and disperse.

A sound of blowing wind was heard from behind the demon lord. He turned around and saw that the spirit was gone and all that was left was an ominous fog.


	9. Crime and Punishment

Ghirahim has been on edge for the last couple of days. He has most of the time locked himself away in the large library. Nobody knows why their Lord has secluded himself and it has even worried Link a bit.

Today, Link was supposed to get back on task with his chores but his Master told him to not even try and just to rest.

The boy has been resting for too long now and was growing restless. He wanted to do some work instead of just lying in Ghirahim's bed doing nothing and being bored. He sighed staring up at the ceiling, thinking about possible things he could do. Unfortunately there was nothing. He couldn't even see his friends at the moment.

Suddenly, Link started to hear shouting outside the door. He was curious about what was going on and decided to investigate.

The child quickly got out of bed but not too quickly to where he would get light headed. He put fixed his gray nightshirt and pants then silently ran over to the door and pressed his ear against it. He still couldn't hear correctly. It sounded like the voices were now down the hallway.

Taking a deep breath, Link slowly and silently opened the door slightly, enough to peer out of it. Immediately he saw his Master, fortunately Ghirahim's back was facing the boy but he was too close for comfort.

Link's eyes widened not expecting to see his Master so close causing him to catch his breath in his throat in fear of being heard. He knew he wasn't supposed to be eavesdropping and could be punished harshly especially since, by the way the dark aura the demon lord was emitting, Ghirahim was not in a good mood at all today.

Further down the hall, several yards from where the door, Link was looking out from, was a couple servants. These servants were the lower ranked ones and were overly fearful of the demon lord, mostly because they were the ones that screwed up the most and were used a lot as Ghirahim's stress relievers. Plus they only worked at the castle; they weren't even worthy enough to live inside. They lived in small shacks a few miles away, inside the Reapers Woods.

"I told you, pathetic slaves to get him ready this morning. It's late afternoon now!" Ghirahim voice boomed through the hallway at the cowering servants. His voice confirming Link's suspicions of the demon lord being in a bad mood.

Link swallowed hard, his fear getting worse. Questions also started to form within the boy's mind. _Who is Master talking about? Who's supposed to be ready?_ He wondered.

"W-we're sorry, Lord Ghirahim!" The servants apologized in unison.

Ghirahim snapped his fingers, making his favorite black sword appear. "When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it. I also expect it to be done hours after I ordered it!" he growled, raising his sword in a threating manner.

"We can do it now, m'Lord!" One of the servants, a young girl, hastily spoke.

Ghirahim's eyes suddenly flashed to her, causing her to jump in fright. "You won't be doing anything but rotting with the dead!" He snarled.

The all servants' eyes got wide. No part of the eye was unrounded. Even Link's eyes went round with shock at hearing the threat.

"P-please, Lord Ghirahim, j-just give us another chance! We can do bet-"another servant stuttered and begged before being cut off.

"SILENCE!" The demon lord snapped, instantly quieting the frightened slaves. "You have had your chances and you still failed me. I should have already been leaving this place instead of dealing with your ignorance. You have now wasted my precious time. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?" He snarled, daggers appearing at his side. "FURIOUS! OUTRAGED! SICK WITH ANGER!" he shouted, sending his daggers towards them with each word. The slaves were then pinned to the closest wall behind them.

Ghirahim then stalked towards them in a painfully slow manner. Link was frozen in place by the demon lord's actions. He hasn't seen his Master this angry since he was very young and he couldn't remember much of what happened.

Ghirahim brought his sword up when he made his way in front of one of the quivering, pinned servants. It was the girl that spoke up earlier.

The demon lord then held his demonic blade up against her throat. "You are more worthless than a mentally unstable bokoblin!" he maliciously sneered. He brought his blade back, away from her throat and watched with a devilish smirk as the girl closed her eyes and sobbed.

After a few moments of watching the girl's tears fall and listening to her choked cries, he looked at the other helpless slaves. They too had their eyes shut and tears, but were praying to live. How pathetic!

Ghirahim scoffed in distaste eyeing the girl once more and raising his blade, ready to strike. He was about to bring it down when he heard a familiar voice halt his actions, then said owner of the voice suddenly appeared in front of the demon lord, preventing him from striking.

"Let them go," Link pleaded with arms spread out on either side of him, protecting the worthless vermin pinned to the wall behind him. The demon lord's eyes widened in shock and brought down his blade. Just as quick as it came, the shock that was clear in Ghirahim's eyes was replaced with one of malice.

"What is the meaning of this, child? You have no right to interfere with other people's business!" Ghirahim growled, holding back his temper.

"They made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. Please, Master, let them go!" The boy begged, with tears beginning to run down his own face. He didn't like death or even the very thought of it. Nobody deserved to die because of a simple mistake. At least the child hoped it was a common, simple mistake.

The demon lord narrowed his eyes at the boy. "I'll give you a chance, boy. Leave now and nothing bad will come to you." He said slowly through clenched teeth. Link shook his head and made eye contact with his Master. His eyes were pleading for everyone's safety.

Ghirahim didn't like the boy's choice. "Last warning! Leave now!" he snarled. He was starting to lose his temper. Still, Link shook his head defiantly, determined to protect the low ranked slaves.

Things were just not going according to plan. With demonic speed, Ghirahim took a firm hold of Link's arm. "I hope you know what you got yourself into, boy!" He hissed, yanking the child's arm towards him. He then snapped his fingers, disintegrating the dragger that held the slaves on the wall in a flurry of diamonds. "Get out of my sights!" He shouted at the low ranked servants. The servants wasted no time in leaving.

Link sighed in relief for their safety but then remembered how much he was in trouble. He thought about what could possibly happen to him. He knew Ghirahim wouldn't kill him or torture him. So what could happen? A couple days in the dungeon, maybe?

Link was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when his arm was viciously pulled, almost making him lose his footing. His Master was practically dragging the child behind him, through the hall and down the stairs to the lower levels.

The boy's suspicions of being put in the dungeon for a couple days was increasing, but then were shattered when they came to an abrupt halt.

They stopped in front of a metal door, Link didn't even know existed in the castle. Where are they and what's going to happen to Link?

Swinging the door open, Ghirahim threw the child inside the cold room.

Link fell harshly onto the stone floor with a sickening thud, knocking the wind right out of him as he landed on his back. He coughed and groaned.

While trying to get oxygen back into his system, Link looked quickly around to see what this room was.

Various weapons of all types were hung on the walls and a metal table was centered in the middle of the room. The room was a bit spacious but nothing compared to any other room in the entire castle.

The demon lord then slammed the door shut as he walked inside the room, peering down at the child on the floor.

Link looked back at his Master with uncertainty and fear.

A tsk could be heard from Ghirahim as he shook his head in disapproval. A snapping sound was then heard and something appeared in his hands.

The child's eyes widened. Was this really going to happen to him? The demon lord smiled at the child's reaction.

"You know child, your old enough to be punished like all the adults now and I feel I've been a bit soft on you. Defiance towards your Master is nothing to be proud of. It is not heroic, it is foolish. It is treason. But I think my little friend here is going to put you back in your place." He purred venomously admiring the weapon in his hands. He stroked it like a loving, delicate pet.

_CRACK_

The awful sound from the whip reverberated off the walls within the room. "Oh and don't worry about someone hearing you. This room is soundproof."

The demon lord brought his hand up about to strike the child on the ground, when a thought crossed his mind. He lowered the whip and narrowed his eyes at Link. "Take the shirt off and lie down on your stomach!" he ordered.

The child just nodded and did what he was told. Taking off his gray nightshirt he felt how unusually cold this room was and shivered a little then turned over to where his back was facing his Master. The cold of the air and the cold of the stone he was on bit at his skin, making small goose bumps appear.

Ghirahim was enjoying the sight and brought his hand up once more.

_CRACK_

The crack of the whip was heard once again along with a sudden scream of pain. The whip had torn right into Link's skin and blood was already forming from the deep lash.

_CRACK_

Another scream erupted from the child's throat as the stinging bite of the whip was felt. Link had no time to recover either.

_CRACK_

Bite after bite, lash after lash, the whip mercilessly ripped and tore at the boy's bloody and damaged back. The warmth of his life liquid ran down his back, staining his skin crimson

Link has heard of people being whipped before, but never thought it would happen to him.

After only minutes of being whipped, the child's throat was already becoming sore from his screams and his sobs could no longer be distinguished from a choking noise.

It felt like an eternity had gone by when the whip ceased its assault on the child's back.

The boy was breathing heavily, trying to choke back the sobs that threatened to escape. His eyes were puffy and red as tears flowed freely from them like never ending rivers.

Ghirahim eyed the child's lashings that littered his back and smirked at the results.

"Count your blessings child, that was only an easy hundred lashings and I used a simple one tailed whip. Usually I use a multi-tailed whip, but this was your first real offense, so I felt a single tailed whip would suffice." Ghirahim maliciously said, snapping the whip away and turning to leave.

The demon lord stopped and looked over his shoulder at Link's beaten form on the floor. "You have an hour to get yourself cleaned up and down in my court." He paused, watching the child intently as he stiffly rose from the floor. "Oh and bring whatever you want that you can carry with you." He finished and slammed the door behind him once he left.

Link sat fully up and brought his legs up to his chest. He wrapped his hands around his knees and ducked his head within them, sniffling and quietly crying. His back stung and ached with every beat of his heart. His blood ran down his back like a warm stream, staining his pants and dripping onto the floor.

Four minutes later, the boy had finally calmed down and carefully stood. He breathed deeply, clearing his mind to prevent anymore tears from escaping. He looked down at his nightshirt and saw it was also stained with his crimson fluid. There was no point in taking it and putting it on would just cause further pain to his back.

Link walked out of the room and made his way to the nearest bath which was the lower chambered servants' bathroom. He has never been in an actual slave bathroom before since his Master always let him use his private one. The only one he's been in was the upper chambered servants' bathroom which was only a bit smaller than Ghirahim's and was always very clean.

Once he opened the door to the bathroom he saw quite a difference. This bathroom was much, much smaller and not even close to being as clean as he was used to. It was bearable, though, if only just.

The child locked the door behind him and ripped off his blood soaked pants. He walked over to the small bath and turned the water on. He waited for some hot water to start flowing but none ever came, only mildly warm water flowed through, filling the bath. It would have to do.

Once the bath was filled enough, Link slowly got in, wincing when the water brushed up against his back. He sucked in a breath and completely submerged himself underwater, wetting his air and his upper back. He came back up for air and groaned in pain. His lashings did not like the water and throbbed. But the water was cleaning them out and gradually stopping anymore of his blood from leaving his body.

Several times, Link had to drain and refill the bath with new water since his blood would color the water as he carefully cleaned his wounds before the bleeding finally stopped and weakly scabbed over.

The boy knew these lashes would haunt him because they would scar, permanently marking him. Reflexively, he brought his hand up to the mark under his left eye; the mark of ownership, Ghirahim had so kindly given him when he was only a baby.

His Master told him about the insignia and what it meant long ago and vaguely remembered the pain it brought when it was being carved into him.

Fearing he was wasting too much time in the bath and feeling the water getting cold, Link got out and grabbed a towel on the nearby rack. He ran the towel through his hair roughly, and then wrapped it around his waist. He looked down at his pants knowing he couldn't wear them and realized he had to run all the way up to his room in just a towel to get his clothes.

The child scowled and mentally kicked himself. He needed clothes and was also running out of time. He had to hurry. Leaving the pants where they lay, he made haste through the castle to his room.

He thanked the goddesses that no one was around in the hallways to see him in such a state and hurried onwards.

Finally making it to his room, he quietly closed the door behind him and rummaged through his closet to find something to wear. Sadly there was nothing. His closet was cleared of clothes. _I can't believe I forgot about my laundry. _He sighed and started to look around the room for something. There was a trunk at the edge of his bed and decided to look through it.

After much searching, his eyes lit up with happiness. There was only a single outfit and it looked much too big for him but it would work.

It was a green tunic with tan pants and a matching hat. There were also gauntlets, old boots, and chainmail that looked like it would fit alright.

He quickly put it on, tying and tucking some ends to make it fit properly, and looking once more around the room for something he wanted.

There was only one thing that he wanted from this room and that was his blanket. It was the only thing that made him feel truly safe. He snatched it off his bed and folded it. Amazingly the torn material actually fit inside his pockets.

Just in case he needed it, he also grabbed his sword and shield. Gently strapping his blade and shield to his back careful to prevent further irritation to the scarring lashes, he headed out the door.

A large grandfather clock loudly sang, signaling the time of day and also signaling that Link's one hour was up.


	10. A Deadly Task

Link's POV

I ran down the hallway quickly. I was very close to the court room, which my Master was in, but my time was already up.

I had already taken a punishment today and didn't feel like taking another. My back still ached and throbbed and the tunic I was wearing rubbed up against the tender, torn flesh. The thought of getting whipped again sent me into a small panic.

I picked up my pace and didn't pay any attention to where I was going. I hoped the beating I took earlier put Master in a better mood, at least enough to be somewhat merciful.

_BAM_

I suddenly fell to the floor, hissing lowly as my back scrapped onto the hard ground. I breathed heavily from the sudden fall and from running down the halls. My gaze was casted downwards and I noticed a pair of torn leather sandals in front of me. I must have run into someone. Oops!

"I-I'm sorry!" I panted apologetically. I was then grabbed by my arm and hoisted up, back onto my feet. I gulped and looked up. My eyes widened as I saw the girl who I rescued earlier stand before me. My face then turned into one of great happiness to see she was still alive and well.

"Don't worry about it. Because of you, my child and I shall live another day. Thank you!" she said, pulling me into a tight embrace. I wince when her calloused hands touched my back. She heard me and backed away, worry overshadowing her eyes.

"You're hurt!" She paused and sniffled a bit, obviously trying to hold back her emotions. "I hope that's not because of me," she breathed, her eyes glazing over with tears.

Unfortunately, these wounds that littered by back were because I saved her life along with the other low ranked servants that were with her.

I looked into her teary eyes and smiled, reassuring her it was alright. Then I wrapped my arms around her in a comforting hug. Being this close to her, I could feel her stomach more rotund than should naturally be. She is pregnant.

My smile widens. Not only did I save her life, but I also saved her unborn child's life as well. I protected two lives today and took a harsh whipping for it, but I was happy and actually forgot about the stinging pain pulsing from my scaring wounds.

I pulled away from the girl and started to walk way towards the court room, but I halted my actions when I heard her voice.

"Young man," she hollered. I turned around and looked at her, giving her my full attention. "I have never met such kindness from a higher ranked slave, especially one so close to Lord Ghirahim, so I thank you again and also, if you don't mind me asking, what is your name?" Her tone was that of a caring and thankful mother's.

"It's Link, and you're very welcome. Goodbye now!" I said, waving as I hurried to my Master. I looked at a clock that hung lazily on the wall. Crap! I'm ten minutes late.

I see the large double doors that lead into the court room and with great haste; I sprint towards it and push the doors open with ease.

I peer inside and instantly spot Master conversing with Shifalala. She is another servant but was middle ranked. She is very loyal to my Master and was quickly rising in ranks. She probably soon will be as high in ranks as I am.

I gently close the door behind me and take a couple steps in, then wait patiently for Master to finish speaking to Shifalala. I breathed a sigh of relief because my Master didn't seem to notice the time. I was safe from another beating. Thank the Goddess!

A few more minutes ticked by and my Master looks in my direction, eyes widening slightly as he notices me waiting patiently for him to finish whatever business he was dealing with.

My Master then focuses his attention back to Shifalala, says something I can't hear, and then waves her off, signaling for her to leave.

Once she leaves, he strides up to me, hands on his hips. "You're late," is all he says before he sighs. "It's alright though, I did put you in a bit of a predicament so it's to be expected and I really don't have time to deliver another punishment your way." He then narrowed his eyes and me and leaned forward a bit, looking me up and down. "Why are you wearing that? It's much too big for you." He wrinkles his nose a bit in disgust.

I shrug. "I haven't been able to do my laundry and was out of clothes. I found this and decided to wear it since I didn't have much time." I said casually and put a little emphasis on the 'time' part.

Master rolls his eyes then stands up straight to look down on me. "I have an important task for you, so listen carefully and don't screw it up." He firmly states and crosses his arms over his chest. I look him in the eyes, showing him I'm all ears.

"I need you to go down into the catacombs. There is a special item deep within them that I need you to get for me. Unfortunately, there are several paths and traps that can easily get you lost or killed. But you are the only one I trust for the job so make sure you get the map that is hanging on the wall near the entrance. At least that will hopefully help you somewhat." He explained. My eyes had widened during his explanation. I didn't know there were catacombs and where were they are located. I was about to ask but he spoke before I could get a word out.

"If you wondering where the catacombs are located, they are deep blow the dungeon. One of the bokoblins will assist you to the entrance, but after that, you're on your own." My Master then turned me around to where my back was facing him. He then started to push me out of the court room. I turned my head to look at him and regretted it instantly since I almost lost my footing.

Master shoved me out the door then watched me intently as a red bokoblin herded me towards the exit of the castle. I stopped for a moment and looked back over my shoulder to see my Master waving with an amused look on his face. "Good luck, child!" He cheered then disappeared behind the court doors.

I frowned but continued on with the bokoblin. Once we were outside, we headed several yards away from the castle. I didn't see anything and looked around.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something shimmer from the now setting sun. I looked over and saw the bokoblin was holding some kind of talisman.

The talisman was blue and was shaped like a teardrop. Different shades of blue could be seen swirling inside as it was being held up to the light.

The ground began to shake rapidly catching me off guard and making me lose my balance. I was relieved that I landed on my stomach. My back deserved a break after all the abuse it has gone through.

A pathway suddenly appeared as the earth concealing it split and torn apart. I stood back up, dusting off my clothing since it got a little dusty and walked towards the entrance to the catacombs. A clawed hand jerked me to a stop before I could proceed with my decent.

I follow the clawed hand holding me back with my eyes to the bokoblin. I narrow my eyes at it. Why was this creature holding me back? "Wait," the bokoblin said in the demon language. I understood the creature and nodded.

Master taught me the demon language so I could speak fluently with everyone since not many knew Hylian. I knew both languages, but mostly stuck to Hylian since the language felt more comfortable to speak.

I looked up from the bokoblin now letting go of my arm, to another who was coming our way with large pouch in its clawed fingers. It quickly ran towards us and lifted the pouch up to me. "Take it. It has all that you need inside." He quickly said also in the demon language. I took it gratefully and thanked him in the demon tongue since I knew they couldn't understand Hylian.

I turned back to the entrance, took a deep breath, and began my decent down the stone floors into the catacombs.

Author's comments: Wow this was shorter than expected to be. Oh well. Promise the next one will be longer.

Wonder what's going to happen to Link? What is in the catacombs especially since they are directly under the dungeon and we all know the condition of the dungeon? If the dungeon is in that bad of a condition with prisoners almost constantly in there, what will the abandoned catacombs bring? When will I stop asking questions? Probably never X) Anyways hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up as soon as possible. Now I am off to bed


	11. A Handy Foe

Ghirahim's POV

After the child was out of my line of sight I giggle inwardly and had to suppress those giggles from escaping to the outside world. I had to be a professional and all mighty demon lord. My giggles would draw unwanted attention and I can't have that.

Anyways I have much to do, but I take a moment to think about what the boy will experience down there. The catacombs aren't entirely abandoned and it is something I should have mentioned before Link left to complete the task at hand. Oh well. It's such a guilty pleasure. Let's see how the boy fairs down there and if he'll come back in one piece with the item I want.

Link's POV

Once I step foot on the bottom of the stairs, I look back up to the way I came to see the entrance to the catacombs reseal itself with the dry earth of the demonic realm. I hold up my arm to cover my eyes of the dirt that makes its way in and cough a bit from the dust that invades my lungs.

I turn away and look back in front of me. It's completely dark inside the catacombs now and I can barely see. I rummage through the pouch and find a small torch. And not just that, I can't see what they are but there are a lot more things in this pouch than I would have ever thought possible.

I pull out the torch and focus my energy into lighting it. I control the flames that burst from my hand so instead of some inferno, I get a small flame like the very first time I played with fire. The torch instantly ignites and I can see much better.

I see I'm in a narrow hallway. I could hear water dripping from afar but it was so faint I strained to hear it. I saw dirt and pebbles falling from the ceiling every so often, leaving dust clouds in their wake. The air was thin which made it somewhat hard to breathe and not to mention the heat made my lugs constrict making it even more painful for whatever oxygen was down here to flow into my system. I was already beginning to sweat. Goddess the heat was so awful. Why in hell would anyone keep an item inside a place like this? I think I would rather be in the dungeon that is said to be haunted than here. At least the dungeon despite its own heat and foul smells didn't make it painful to breath.

I sigh, already hating this task. I start walking down the hallway and check the sides for the map; Master had mentioned it should be hanging on the walls.

The hallway comes to an abrupt end and splits into three passageway. I check the walls again and see no map anywhere. Did Master lie just to give me some form of confidence?

I quickly shake that thought away. Master would never lie. He hates liars and hates hypocrites. Maybe it has just been so long the map fell off years ago and Master didn't know it was gone.

I choose the left path to go down and find a rusted iron door. I cautiously enter. I look around the room and see a bunch of bones and skulls inside the walls. It smells disgusting in here, a little worse than the dungeon. There are mounds of mud and who knows what else here and there. I look for another door but find none except for the one I came in from. Of all passageways, I chose the one with a disgusting dead end first.

I put my hand on the handle of the only door in the room and try turning it. It won't turn. Maybe it's stuck? I start pulling and thrashing at the door, hoping to open it. After a few moments of fighting with the door, I give up my attempts. It's no use anyways. I'm locked in.

I step farther into the room and grasp the hilt of my sword, ready to take action if needed. I see nothing around. I'm the only living thing in here but something inside me tells me otherwise.

A few more steps in, a hand bursts from the ground and grabs hold of my neck. I am shocked and paralyzed with fear. I pull out my sword from its sheath but lose grip of it and listen in horror as it falls to the ground. I then grab the hand that is holding me by my throat and try to pry its ugly white and red fingers off me. In my attempt to get away, I realize the hand isn't hurting me, just keeping me in place and in a panic. My instincts then fully awaken and tell me it's a trap.

Through my struggles to get free, I hear something burrow out of the ground and slowly head in my direction. My eyes widen more than they are, if that's even possible.

I finally pry the hand off me and whirl around to see what's coming after me. My face pales when I see the horrendous monster. Keeping my distance from the monster and the sudden hands sprouting from the ground, I can see its skin is as white as Master's hair with red splotches covering its body. It didn't really have any hands, only arms that were angled at its side. Its neck was pointed upwards as it slowly made its way towards me and its mouth was huge! I tried to see what its eyes looked like, but it didn't look like it had any, just a black void.

It's now in front of me and it lowers its head with some kind of grin. It tried taking a bit out of me with its flexible jaw. I jump out of the way in time. I see the torch I was holding was also on the ground next to my sword and it didn't seem like it was going out anytime soon.

I dash towards my dropped items, dodging the hand that grabbed me earlier, and grab the hilt of my blade. I'll worry about my torch later. I slash the hand in my way causing it to flee underground and turn my attention back to the grotesque monster still following me.

I let it come close. The second it lowers its head to take a bite, I slash at its face with adrenaline coursing through me. I felt victorious. Unfortunately, my victory was short lived when it retreated underground and another hand popped out and encases my throat. Goddess these ugly hands are really starting to annoy me.

I don't let go of my sword this time, instead I slice right through it and spin on my heel just in time to slash at the monsters face. Its blood splatters on me. It smells like a rotting corpse. It hides underground once again, and more hands fly right out of the ground waiting for me to run into them.

Not this time!

I dodge an oncoming hand and let my blade sink into its rancid flesh. I watch the other hands carefully from the corners of my eyes but kept most of my focus on the creature coming towards me. I examine my foe once more and realize with disgust it wasn't a living enemy. It was more like the walking dead, well more like sliding dead since it had no feet. Its flesh was decaying and falling off. Those red splotches I thought were a part of its skin were actually rotting flesh, bleeding and coming apart to reveal its muscle and innards.

For who knows how long I slashed viciously at the decaying monster. I was sweating profusely and breathing heavily in the thin humid air. I skin was caked in its putrid blood and my tunic was definitely not spared of its bloodshed. I was also bleeding and I'm pretty sure I reopened some of my wounds on my back.

I slash at the creature one more time and finally after giving a blood curdling scream it fell to the floor with its mouth wide open and died. A chest appears from its rotting remains and I decide to claim whatever treasure was in it even if I had to peal the flesh of the monster away from the chest to open it.

I wiped my bloody hands on my already stained pants and opened the chest. I pulled out the item and found it was a key. I sigh wishing I had something better but then I was glad I had it in case. Better safe than sorry.

I pocket the key, grab my still lit torch, and try the door again. I hear the click of the knob and it swings open with no effort needed. I walk out and head down the right passageway. I find another door at its end. I contemplate on whether or not I should try for it. It could be another trap. I quickly make up my mind and head back and down the middle passage. This time not only do I find a stupid door but it had a lock on it. Well this has to be the way forward, right?

I use the key and quickly enter. I deadpan the second I see what's in the room. Hand, tons and tons of hands litter the room. There even coming out of the walls. I don't know whether I should scream and run or stay and put my life on the line. This is truly a fight or flight situation. I try the knob of the door. Of course, it's locked. Now I really do have to fight. The fight begins just like it did last time with the same kind of enemy.

This one took long, much, much longer than last ones. I could hardly breathe and was bleeding even more now. I have confirmed that all my lacerations on my back are complete opened and are pooling blood, soaking through my tunic and attracting the Dead Hand further towards me. Yep, I gave it a name. With all its hands and its rotting body, I think it suits.

I finally kill it though and open another chest that appears after its defeat. Inside this time is the map. I look at the map and check off where I am. The room I was about to go through before heading back was in fact the right way forwards. In other words, I could be further inside the catacombs and have avoided this creature. I seriously hate this place more and more each second.

I sheath my sword and head back down the right passageway and through its door. I narrow my eyes in rage at what I find. DAMN IT! I just couldn't get a break from these guys could I? I think by the time I done with the task Master so kindly gave me, my Master is going to hear some new words fly out of my mouth and those words are not going to be pretty.

_**Author's comments:**_** See what I did there? Yes the childhood nightmare Dead hands have returned. Don't we all just love and miss them? Of course we don't. In most fanfics I read I don't see Dead hands showing up. So I decided to be different. Yes they are everywhere and I am evil for putting them there. Enjoy. I'll have next chapter up very soon. I swear it seems when I'm typing theres so much more than there really is. Oh and if I give you nightmares of the dreaded Dead Hand I'm so sorry. **


	12. The Catacombs

Link's POV

Goddess knows how long I've been here. It feels like days but it's probably only been a couple of hours. I'm resting with my back against the wall and a small fire crackling by my feet. I don't sense any danger around and am glad I can take a break. Three Dead Hands, three creepy ugly Dead Hands I had to fight, first thing I get in here, in a row. Not to mention those other hands that creep along the ceiling and floors.

I remember being told about those types of monsters. I think the hands that crawl along the ceiling are called wallmasters and the ones on the floor are called floormasters. Wallmasters are much easier to kill as long as you don't get caught in their grip. The floormasters on the other hand, don't go down with splitting into three smaller hands and having to kill them quickly, otherwise the smaller hands will grow back into its original size. I'm starting to guess that everything down here is dead, well living dead.

My body is trembling from all that has so far happened and my back is hurting worse than before now that the flesh has indeed been reopened. My temple has been cut open and I watched as blood runs down my face like crimson tears. I swallow trying to moisten my dry throat but the saliva gets stuck making me swallow several times more just to get it to go down. I decide to look at my supplies that are in my pouch in the low light of the burning fire.

Inside I find: A lantern, a sleeping bag, a bow with ten arrows, three bottles of red potion, and one bottle with a fairy.

I quickly grab one of the bottles holding the red potion and drink it. It kills my thirst and heals my bloody body. The feeling of my wounds sealing themselves shut was a bit painful but afterwards it was utter bliss.

I breathe a sigh of relief and slowly become tired. I know I should be going now but I can't fight the urge to sleep. I take out the sleeping bag and lay it out. I crawl in it and quickly enter the loving void of sleep.

I must have been out for only a few minutes when I suddenly wake. I hear some kind of moaning and it's only getting louder. Whatever is making the noise is getting closer and my instincts tell me to get ready for a fight.

I latch onto my swords hilt and my shield and stand in a ready position. I see a large shadow of the creature dance on the wall as it grows nearer and its moaning grows even louder. Something about whatever's coming my way makes my skin crawl and the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I didn't feel this much fear facing the other enemies so why should I now?

Finally it came into view and I could swear I felt my heart stop. It was walking so slowly, almost like it was dragging its feet. I could already smell its rotting flesh. The smell was more putrid than the Dead Hand's. Already I can tell it's a walking corpse and I also learned about these things long ago. Their called Redeads and are blind. Well most are blind. Only the tribal Redeads could see with their red eyes. As far as I could tell, this was a normal Redead.

Suddenly the Redead stops and just stands there, still moaning which really gives me the creeps. I suppress a shiver to pass through my body and focus on my new enemy. I don't remember much about this foe, but I do remember they latch on to you and suck your life-force away.

I slowly walk up to it, not allowing any noise to pass from my cautious steps. I stand in front of it and look at its rotting face. It too did not have any eyes. Another shiver crept up on me and this time I could not stop it. It raked through my body and even forces a small sound out. Big mistake!

The Redead shoots its head up at me and lets out an ear shattering scream. I was paralyzed in place. Fear took control of my body, leaving me motionless in place as the Redead took a step and latched onto me. My eyes widen as it starts to suck the life out of me. Its legs are wrapped around my waist from behind and its arms are on my shoulders. The feeling of its attack horrifies me. It's so utterly painful and it feels as if my soul is being ripped apart from it stealing my life away

I struggle against its iron grip and break free. I remember I have my sword in hand and go in for an attack. It screams again that awful scream and once again I am paralyzed with fear. It latches on to me once more. I can feel it moving against me and ripping apart the skin on my head and neck. It purred and moaned in pure pleasure. I felt sick and dizzy. I start feeling blood drip down my from the wounds it inflicted from its teeth.

I begin to panic. It felt so gross. I could feel its bones under its decaying skin and it was painful. I struggle and break free, running a good distance away from it, enough for it to think I'm not around anymore. I watch it from a safe distance. It turns around and stands still again like nothing happened.

My hair was matting from the slowly drying blood that cascades down my head. My body has already become weak again from the Redead sucking the life out of me. I calm myself before thinking of a plan.

I come up with two options: Leave my stuff here, tiptoe my way around the Redead, and come back later, if I can. Or, I can quickly strike the enemy, risk my life, and gain the upper hand.

I decide to go with option one since I really can't handle another attack from the monster if option two failed. I check my pockets and see I have one bottle of potion with me that was wrapped inside my tattered blanket. I frown a little when I see a bit of blood has gotten on the material. Oh well, definitely will clean it later.

I grab my lamp, take a couple deep breaths and advance quietly forward. I tiptoe slowly to ensure no sound is made while I sneak past the Redead. I hold back my shudders when I hear its moaning once again and focus on taking quiet steps.

I get by the Redead fairly quick and hurry forward with my hand on the hilt of my sword. I also light my lamp now that I am out of range of the monster.

A mile or two away from the Redead, the path I've been taking cuts off into a dead end. I hear loud drips of water that I heard a while ago back at the entrance. I must be going the right way even if this is a dead end.

I look around and bite my lip, thinking hard about where to go and what to do. I look up at the low ceiling. My eyes widen and I smile at what I find. A lever is hanging down from the ceiling just low enough for me to grasp it.

I grab the lever and pull on it hard. The ground begins to shake and a secret passageway opens up from the ground. I let go of the lever and proceed forward.

I think an hour passed, by the time I got to another room. I check my map and confirm my location. A grin spreads wide on my face when I see I'm getting closer to the end of the catacombs.

The room I'm in is a bit darker than anywhere else I've been. Not even my lamp could fully penetrate through the darkness; it only left my surroundings in shadows.

I lift my lamp up to eye leve and look around as best as I can. I can hear something in this room, so I stay on guard. I take a few cautious steps forward and almost jump out of my skin. Well… found my new enemy. I back up quickly, attach the lamp to my belt, unsheathe my sword, and raise my shield.

The creature is a dirty cream color, and has no hands or feet. In fact, it doesn't even have a face, only a large circular mouth. Master told me about these things and said they were extinct because they got on his 'bad side.' I guess he accidentally left one hanging around. He called them Like Likes. I wonder why though?

I run at it and do a jump attack, thinking I'll slice it in half easily. I was proven wrong. It opens its large mouth and sucks me in, chews on me, then spits me out. I land on my ribs with a loud crack when I hit the ground. I feel intense pain instantly and hold back my scream. I can already tell my ribs have cracked from impact. Adrenaline pumps through my veins as I listen to my foe slowly come closer to me. I push up, off the ground and turn to face it. The adrenaline nulls the pain enough for me to fight and stay alive.

My grip tightens on my sword and then I realize, as I'm trying to grab for my shield, it's not with me anymore. I know I had it before the Like Like tried eating me. I check to make sure nothing else was gone when I saw my pockets are empty. My blanket was gone…

I widen my eyes then narrow them at the Like Like, a fire burning in them. That bastard took my blanket! I don't care too much for my other stuff, but he or she or whatever that thing really is took something personal from me and I am pissed!

The fire that is burning in my eyes start to engulf my body in the same burning passion. I feel a crackling energy start to form in the air and time slows then came to a stop. I breathe deeply in fury and feel the fiery energy intensify. I devilish smirk full of hate forms on my lips. I raise my hand then slam it on the ground with my palm lying flat on the cold surface. A fire, no, an inferno erupts from my body, surrounding me in its ring, and then it spreads out, hitting its target, setting it aflame.

I stand straight up, my anger dying down a bit but the hatred I felt towards the monster was still evident in my eyes. I watch with great delight, the Like Like burn, squeal, and then die. I step on the corpse of the Like Like then I start cutting it open with my blade. I quickly find my shield and potion, putting them back in their rightful places. I dig deeper into the rotting corpse of my dead enemy and find my blanket. The juices of the Like Like drip from the material as I pull it out of its body. I fan it out a bit, to rid what I can of the juices, fold it back up carefully, and place it back in my pocket.

I sigh in relief that my blanket was alright. I wouldn't be so careless with an enemy like that again.

I cross the room and find a large chest sitting atop of a platform. There are no stairs leading up to it and I estimate it to be about several stories up. I rest my head on the cool cobblestone wall and close my eyes. A headache was coming on. How was I supposed to get all the way up there?

I open my eyes, lift my head from the wall, turn around, and survey the room carefully. I remember how dark it is and remember that my lantern was probably somewhere on the ground now that the Like Like's body disintegrated into purple smoke. I search for it and find it in a dark corner, its light almost complete out. It's out of oil.

I place it on my belt and look around the room as best as I can in the darkness. I then hear rats squeaking and ready my blade. Demonic rats were not creatures you could mess with. I learned that the hard way.

I turn every which way and find the creatures. They were much bigger than the rats in the dungeon and…they could fly?

My jaw falls to the floor when I see the large rats unfurl their skinny, ugly bat-like wings and slowly fly towards me. What kind of hell am I in? There are all sorts of enemies, living and undead, chests popping up here and there, multiple floors, and insane puzzles. What is this place? It's just like one of those temple or dungeon places that the chosen hero of the past, in the mortal realm had to go through to save the world. But Master said those were just stories. Mere fairytales you tell to small children to entertain them and bless them with good dreams. Were they actually real?

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a sudden sting on my shoulder. One of the flying demonic rats had bit me. Not good. These rats had venomous bites. Hopefully it's not too serious.

I raise my shield and deflect one of the rats' attacks. I slash at it while it was vulnerable, quickly killing it, and raising my blade to the others. They hiss, seeing there fallen comrade and fly right at me. I attack full force, slaying ever demonic rat that came close.

Eventually they were all dead and the poison from the bite on my shoulder was starting to attack my system. I check to see how serious the bite was. It was small, which I was lucky for, but the venom was just as powerful as a regular sized bite. I was also fortunate that it was the only wound I received while fighting the rats.

I was starting to feel nauseous and dizzy. My head is pounding and the adrenaline in my body is waning. The pain from my cracked ribs is awakening with fervor. I look at my wound again and see it's turning an unhealthy shade of black and purple. I have no choice; I already have to use my potion.

I shakily take it out of my pocket and fumble with the cork. Once the bottle was open, I carefully drink the potion, not wanting to fully upset my stomach and lose the healing essence.

No more was in the bottle after a few swallows and already I feel my body being to mend itself back together. The healing came with a hot flash of pain, especially when I felt my ribs seal their cracks. But just as quickly as it came, the pain was gone is replaced with a new sensation of bliss and relaxation.

I take a few more moments then look around the room once again for a way up to the platform with the chest. This time I see a stairwell leading up to the chest. It was transparent and seemed to be made of crystal with a web design.

I climb the stairs and open the chest, taking out the new item. I raise a brow in question. Why in the entire demon realm, did I need this? In my hands, I held an ancient looking instrument called an ocarina. It was blue with seven holes and the crest of the Triforce was embroidered at the base of the mouthpiece.

I shake my head thinking this item is useless. I keep it anyways. I mean I did fight and bleed for it, so why not? I turn to leave but stop in my place when something starts to form on the wall. I watch the wall intently and see gold glowing and carving into the cobblestone. When the gold dissipates, I walk up to the wall and stare at what is written. It looks like notes to a song. I look back at the ocarina in hand and decide to give it a try.

I put my mouth on the mouthpiece, position my hands firmly over the holes and try playing the song. The first attempt at playing the odd tune sounded horrible and could possibly make someone's ears bleed or at least deafen them. I tried several more times, each time getting more use to playing the ancient instrument. Finally I succeed in playing it. I know I played it right because more gold fire carved away at the wall, revealing a message after it once again disappeared.

The message said: "The rising sun will eventually set. A newborn life will fade. From sun to moon, moon to sun…give peaceful rest to the living dead."

This message actually seemed familiar and something inside me tells me I can use this song against those vile Redeads.

I leave the room and head back to where I snuck past that one Redead and where my stuff is. All too quickly I'm back and see the monster in front of me. I take out the ocarina and play the song and hear the awful moaning I usually hear from the Redead cease. I look at my enemy and see it's frozen. This is my chance.

I put away the instrument and attack swiftly. I never stopped swinging my sword until the walking corpse was dead, truly dead. I watch with triumph as my foe falls in a heap on the ground and slowly disappears.

I walk back to where I left my stuff and gather everything up. I am exhausted and would love to sleep again, but I can't waste any more time. I push forward, constantly looking at my map now.

I've already run into several traps, dead ends, and an ambush of enemies. I have found one enemy I can tolerate the most. There walking skeletons with a sword and a shield. I prefer them to the rest of the enemies because they aren't hard to kill and at least they use a sword to fight with and nothing else.

I put my back against a nearby wall and pull out my map, again. I look it over carefully then put it away. I once again examine the area I'm in. There's supposed to be a hidden door somewhere, but where?

I get up off the wall and head all the way down the passage to another dead end. Or is it? I hear the sound of rushing water. I press my ear up against the wall and listen. It's just behind this wall. I check every wall around me and stumble when I go straight through one of them. Another door; maybe this will lead to where I need to go.

I walk in and instantly see enemies, but I also see a huge chest behind bars. The room, of course is dark and I cautiously walk up to the enemies. Suddenly, a hand wraps around my throat forcing me to stop. My eyes go wide. Damn it, not again!

It's a Dead Hand. I easily rip the hand off me and turn to look for the monster. I don't see it or hear it anywhere. Where is it?

A moan makes me snap my head to the left and right. My blood goes cold when I see more company in the room. I stop my breathing and back away slowly, never taking my eyes off of the Redeads on both sides of the room, huddled in little circles. There was possible seven Redeads in the room.

I back up into something and nearly scream, but I bite my tongue to prevent any sound from escaping my lips. I turn around and ready my sword. Well, found my missing friend.

The Dead Hand does what it always does and tries to eat me. I slash its face and repeat the process, but stay quiet enough to not attract any attention from the other occupants in the room. I kill the Dead Hand in a matter of minutes.

I pull out my ocarina and play the magical song that stuns the living corpses, the Sun's song. I hear the sound of them freezing and smile. There's too many to take out one by one so I need to try and take them all out at once. I feel something ignite within me, a warm tingling dancing on my fingertips. A smirk plays across my face and I position myself in the middle of the room, between the two Redead groups.

I feel the air around me heat up and become flammable. I do what I did before and press the palm of my hand on the ground, unleashing a roaring fire at my foes. I stand straight up afterwards and check my work. The Redeads are on fire. I can smell the scent of burning, rotting flesh. It's not a pleasant smell.

I watch them burn and wait for them to fall. They never do. The fire dies out and the Redeads still stand, and are coming towards me, their awful moans filling the room. Their shrill screams replace the moaning and paralyzed me with fear. I start to tune out on their screams as they got closer and I try to escape. One was about to grab hold of me, when I warp out of the room, and outside of the door.

I wipe the sweat beading down my forehead with the back of my hand, relieved to have warped to safety outside the room. So glad I had a warp point set up out here before I went inside. I calm my heart rate. When I recollect myself I head back into the room.

The Redeads are back where they were originally and the Dead hand was well still dead and nowhere to be seen. I play the Sun's song again then ready my sword after the walking dead freeze. I am more cautious this time. I make a mental note.

Note to self: Fire does no good against Redeads, instead just ticks them off more and puts me in more danger than needed.

Since I couldn't use fire, my only other option is to take them out one by one and constantly use my ocarina to keep them still. I nod to myself putting my plan into action. Without wasting any more time, I lunge at my foes swiftly and slaughter them all. I was attacked by two of them since my sword woke two Redeads at once from their frozen state. It wasn't easy and I did get injured but killed them after re-stunning them.

I pant, exhausted and feeling the major energy drain from using my magic. I am going to have to rest up after I get the item in the big chest.

I walk up to the bars, the chest is behind, and immediately see something that a sword could fit into. I thrust my sword into it and twist it like a key. I hear a click then take my sword back and sheath it. I see two red targets up high that I can't reach with my sword. I dig in my pouch and pull out the bow I have and ready an arrow. I point at the first target on the ceiling and let the arrow fly. I hit it perfectly and the target changes to blue. The next one is to my farthest left in a dark corner. I do the same thing and it changes to blue also.

The bars lift, allowing my access to the chest. I run up to it and fling the top open, pulling out the item inside. It was kind of heavy but once I pull it out, I see it's a large key with a red gem and onyx metal. It was in the shape of an ancient sword.

I pocket the key and set up a camping area. I set the sleeping bag on the ground and gather a few pieces of scattered wood and start a fire. Even though it was very hot down here, I needed the fire so I could see better and maybe ward off an enemies. I get inside the sleeping bag and relax a bit.

**Author's Comments: Sorry it took so long. I am already almost done with the next chapter. I would have put them both together but there's already so much typed out; in fact I think this is my longest chapter so far. Well, hope you enjoyed. R&R please!**


	13. The Item and Freedom

I don't know how long I've been out. Heck, I didn't even know I was sleeping until I open my eyes in a sleepy haze. I blink a couple times to clear my vision and see the fire I set up has completely died out. I stand up and stretch earning a few pops and cracks from my limbs as they wake up. It actually felt pretty good.

I pack all my stuff again and head back on my way. I'm back in the passage way and look at the wall that showed it was a dead end to find there was no wall anymore. I check my map and see it is the right way to go and I can hear the sound of rushing water.

I get moving and quickly find a mucky stream of water and come to another dead end beside the stream. I look down at the gross looking water and watch it flow for a few seconds. I sigh and jump into the water almost, retching at the smell of it. I think this water is the castles sewage.

I do my best to push past my sudden urge to puke and follow the flow of the water. It feels like forever when I arrive at a lone platform with a huge door with an oddly shaped lock on it and the Triforce symbol on the ground in front of it. There is a stone with writing on it by the door. I check out the stone before I enter the door.

The stone says: _He who can play the song of ancient past can enter the door that is sealed with a lock with that of a key._

A song of ancient past? I only know the Sun's song, what else is there? I shrug my shoulders and stand on the symbol of the Triforce, figuring that this is where I'm supposed to stand. I pull out the ocarina and attempt to play 'the song of ancient past' whatever that is. So I play the Sun's song. The song reverberates off the walls but nothing else happens. I wasn't too surprised but I still frown and furrow my eyebrows. What could the song be?

I think long and hard. I sit on the floor, cross-legged, elbow on my leg, and my head resting on the palm of my hand. I look back on my memories wondering if the answer is in the past itself. I think back to when Master tried teaching me piano and the songs I learned during the lessons, plus songs I found in the old tomes of the library. I remember finding one song. It was a lullaby and I tried playing it on the piano. I couldn't do it and soon gave up playing altogether. I remember Master playing for me when I couldn't sleep because my blanket went missing for a couple days. I requested the lullaby and he played the song easily. It sounded so beautiful and relaxing. I remember the notes of the lullaby for the piano but just maybe…

I stand up and ready my ocarina. I think about the notes of the lullaby then arrange them in my mind in a way that could work for this instrument. I try playing it.

It took a few tries to get the sound right and then once more to play up to speed. The ground rumbled and several chains on the door fall to the ground and disappeared. I got the song right!

I walk all the way up to the lock still plastered on the door. I take the key out and put it in the lock, twisting it and watch as the lock brakes and opens the door.

I step inside the dark room and see unlit torches in all four corners of the room. The door suddenly slams shut behind me, startling and causing my body to jump. I shake my head and proceed forward to the middle of the room. I quickly use my fire magic to light the torches and see there are several fairly large holes weaving in and out of this room from all sides of the walls. The holes touch the ceiling and end halfway down. The rest is decaying cobble stone bricks.

I look around the room for what Master wants but there is nothing in here. Not even an enemy. I check again then give up. Nothing…

I sigh and look up at the ceiling while leaning on one of the walls. Then my eyes see something. I have to squint a little since the fire light from the torches didn't completely reach the ceiling, only shrouding it in dancing shadows. My eyes are not deceiving me though. I pull out my bow and ready an arrow. I aim carefully. The hole is small and only one of my arrows will be able to fit through and hit the target on the other side. I let the arrow fly.

Miss…

I roll my eyes a little annoyed from missing my mark. I load another arrow.

Miss…

Again I miss.

Miss, miss, miss…

My arrows are now almost gone. I'm down to only one. I load it up and breathe deeply and let the arrow fly. A smile appears on my face as I watch the projectile go through the tiny hole and hit its mark.

A chest falls from a hidden area in the ceiling and makes a loud thud signaling that it is there. I walk up to the chest. This is it, I can finally get what I need and get out of this place.

I open the chest, my smile never wavering. I reach in and feel something rather cold and a little bit heavy. I find a handle on it and use both hands to hoist it up and out into the open so I can see what this important item is that Master wants so much.

As I start to examine the thing in my hands, a shrill roar permeates the humid, quiet air. I take my eyes from the item and look around the room quickly. I don't see anything in the room. Another roar erupts from the shadows of the room. Where ever this creature is, it sure knows how to hide.

I set the item back into the chest for now and grab the hilt of my blade and ready my shield. I hear it again but this time it's much louder. The creature is getting closer.

I stay on guard and my eyes are moving at lightning speed, checking for any signs of another life form in the room.

I can hear heavy breathing now along with the heavy thuds of footsteps. The room shook; the vibrations sending debris down from the ceiling.

The creature comes into view now, booming its voice at me. Its breath smells foul and I can see its sharp yellowish-white teeth. Its eyes are striking. They are the color of dancing mist on top of the ocean. Its skin was covered in shining white scales. It also has long, sharp horns that curve around its head and down its neck.

It roars again and takes a heavy step. It extends its vast wings and I can see they are intricately webbed, perfect for flight. As mystical as this creature is, its beauty is deadly. It sniffs me, taking it my sent, its diamond shaped pupils shrinking. Then all too quickly its large jaw unhinges and snaps at me. I dodge but barely and suck in a breath. Looks like there's no escaping this fight!

I examine my opponent carefully, looking for a weak point. Already I can tell this is going to be a difficult fight by our height difference. This creature is ten times my size and with its wings extended, can barely fit inside this room.

Wait a minute…

An Idea strikes me and a small smile creeps across my face. I keep a tight grip on my sword and dodge an oncoming attack by running under the creature's large body. It starts to slowly turn to face me, and I take advantage of its slow movements. I dash up to one of its extended wings and cut right through like butter. Instantly, black blood splatters on me and oozes out of its torn wing.

It screams in pain, hurling its massive tail at me. I try jumping over it but to no avail. It takes my legs out from under me, making me fall to the hard crumbling floor. A crack reverberates through the room. The sound I realized came from my head colliding with the floor. The room spun from my now dizzying headache and I felt sticky warm liquid descend onto the floor from the wound on my skull.

Because I was temporarily disoriented, the creature gains the upper hand and bits into my leg. I could feel my flesh and bones separate from his sharp canines. I gasp and hold back my pained cries. Instead of eating me right then and there, the creature seemed to like playing with his prey. He swings me around, my leg still in his jaw. Several pops and cracks echo in the room, and severe pain shoots through my leg like none other I've felt before.

Finally the creature opens his jaw mid swing, flinging me to the other side of the room. I hit the wall, my chest taking most of the impact which really wasn't good. I fell from the wall and land again on my back.

He stalks towards me and bellows. He stops short of me and just eyes me with those piecing diamond orbs of mist. A deep throaty growl could be heard coming from the creature but he doesn't make a move.

I get up slowly and wince from the pain on my leg and assess the damage. It looks horrible but I'll have to manage. I look around the creature and see I'm now on the opposite side of the chest that holds the item. The chest is behind the large beast.

This monster doesn't seem intended on killing me. He seems he's only here to guard the item. He stands up straight now, furling its wings and looking down at me.

"_Youth that stands before me, why do you intend on taking the forbidden item?" The beast asks. His voice sounds ancient but extremely dark and ominous._

I stand straight up and lock my eyes with the creature, showing no fear.

"I was sent by my Master to retrieve it." I answered. The creature hummed in deep thought.

"_Foolish mortal, I am its guardian. No one gets past me." _He takes a step towards me and lowers his massive head, his clouded orbs connecting with sapphire irises.

"I'm taking that item and you can't stop me!" The beast laughs at my remark and what looks like a big grin engulfs his features.

"_You're quite amusing, boy, but challenging a dragon is most foolhardy" He says and blows hot air in my face from his nostrils. "I will give you a chance at getting the forbidden item I've been entrusted to guard. If you can land a striking blow that would be most fatal to you mortals, I shall let you have the item."_ The dragon unfurls his wings once again and glowers in discomfort of the small space and lack of mobility he has. "But before we begin, I shall enlarge our surroundings to ensure we have a fair fight and heal your injuries." He crouches down and closes his eyes.

The room we stand in now begins to grow, expanding large enough for the beast to have full mobility with his wings out. I then started feeling a warm tingling course through my body. The pain I feel dissolves and is replaced with warmth. I look down at by bloody leg and see the skin mend itself back together. Not even a scar was left behind. I didn't have a headache anymore either. Even my tunic was restitched and looking brand new. In fact it was now resized to fit me perfectly.

The dragon opens his eyes and watches me, amused. "_Any wounds you have had are now fully erased as if you never had them and your outfit I noticed was much too big for you, so I made it fit properly. I also healed my own injury from that blasted blade of yours, but I will admit you took a good shot. Now, on to business. The item you seek will only appear after you've defeat me. You won't know when you've defeated me until the chest it's in appears in an array of light. Anything is allowed during our battle so make sure you keep your wits about. With that said, let's begin!" _He roars and begins to ascend, flapping his to gain flight, which was easy now that the ceiling was also taller.

Narrator

Link stood in a defensive position as he watched the dragon take flight. His eyes darted around the room, assessing the situation. He heard the dragon chuckle in delight of the situation.

The boy kept his eyes on the beast, jumping out of the way when the dragon swooped down, mouth open to capture the child within it.

He rolled out of the way just in time and slashed upwards with his sword to deliver a painful blow to the dragon's long tail.

The dragon shrieked in anger and pain. A large cut that was drawn from the boy's blade was present and was leaking the black liquid that was the dragon's blood.

The dragon narrows his eyes at Link and sucks in a breath. Seconds later he blows a burning blaze Link's way. The boy tried dodging it but his left arm seared and his wooden shield quickly turned to ashes. He gasped holding back his pained cries and almost drops his sword. He wants desperately to cradle his wounded arm but holds back, already fighting to keep his sword at the ready.

Link looked up at the dragon who was smirking and more or less waiting for him to make a move. He breathed in deeply and felt a crackling around his blistering hand. He recognized the feeling and locked eyes with the dragon.

_If he wants to play with fire, fine! Let's play with fire. _Link thought while gathering energy. He needed something to help control the blaze so there's no chance of missing completely. He was out of arrows, but maybe…

Link looked quickly around the room for something that could be useful. All he found were pots scattered around the perimeter of the room. Taking one last glance at the dragon, he sprinted to the closest pot and smashed it. He found one of the healing heart fruits inside and ate it rapidly, feeling some of its healing effects take place. The pain he felt in his burned arm dulled but not nearly enough to fully subside.

The dragon just watched the child break the pots and gather their contents. The dragon did realize he could attack Link at any moment he chose while the boy is occupied with the pots, but decided against it. After all, he was just a child, and as annoying as children are, they're hardly a true threat. The dragon just waited patiently, amused at the boys frantic search within the shattered remains of broken pots.

Link's nerves were on end. He hated that the dragon was taking his time to strike and was just watching him break pots. The boy's palms were sweating not just from the heat of the place, but from this nerve racking suspense the dragon is making him go through.

Link growled a bit when he cut himself on one of the broken shards of the pot. Thankfully he healed instantly after taking a bit from another heart fruit he found within the remains of shard pieces.

He broke every pot inside the room. His arm was much better and only a dull ache remained after biting into several heart fruits. He even found a bundle of arrows which he was looking for the entire time and some magical juice that gave I'm lots of energy to perform his own magic.

Link pulled out his bow and readied an arrow. He concentrated and sent a spark of heat to the tip of the arrow, causing it to ignite with a blazing flame. He eyed the dragon and the dragon just smirked, taunting him to even dare try to shoot.

The boy aimed for the dragon's chest, right where his heart would be. The dragon just rolled its eyes ready to defend himself easily with this obvious attack. But the attack wasn't so obvious after all. The dragon roared in pain and plummeted to the ground beneath. One of his wings was in pure agony.

Link purposely let the dragon think he was going to shoot at his chest but instead quickly shot at one of his wings.

The child smiled, glad his plan worked, and watched the dragon fall and land on his side. The dragon stood up quickly after such a landing and bellowed in rage. He tried gaining flight but his wing was in too much pain to move properly and the fire from the arrow ruined the webbing of the wing. The dragon would no long be able to fly with this sort of damage, but no matter, he will still be able to fight on the ground.

Now that the dragon was on the ground, Link would gain a better advantage. The dragon's heart was within reach for a clear strike when the time comes and there is an opening.

The dragon in its rage and pain blows fire once again at Link, but he was expecting this and uses his newest magic ability. He hopes it works. Time slows almost to a complete stop. He raises his hands above his head, crouches down on the ground, and puts both his hands flat on the ground. A glowing blue light shines brightly and engulfs the boy, creating a blue diamond shaped barrier around him.

The barrier did its job and protected Link from the flames. Unfortunately, as much as Link wanted to, he couldn't bring down his barrier and he could feel it taking away his energy the longer it stayed up. He was going to have to work fast if he was to defeat his enemy before all his energy is depleted.

Link ran straight at the dragon, slashing at the dragon any chance he got but the dragon quickly countered or blocked. This went on without end. They were locked in a stalemate.

All too quickly, Link's energy ran dry and the barrier protecting him disappeared. The boy panted in exhaustion but continued to fight.

The dragon took great notice of the child's now weakened state and used it to his advantage. The dragon used its tail as a diversion and swept it towards the boy. Link jumped over it but was soon within the dragon's mouth. The dragon grinned maliciously and started to chew and play with him like a dog with a chew toy.

It was painful. Link cried out and struggled to get free but it was all in vain. The dragon had a good grip and wasn't letting go anytime soon. He could feel blood ooze out of the punctures the dragon's teeth made in his skin.

Finally the dragon let go, flinging Link at a nearby wall. The back of the child's head hit full force into the wall. Spots dotted the boys vision. He fell from the wall and his head hit on the floor in the same spot. The room felt like it was spinning.

The boy felt sticky warm liquid flowing freely from his cracked skull, running down his neck and creating a crimson puddle beneath. This was it. He would pass out then probably die here. He closed his eyes and wished he wasn't in so much pain. He wished he was back in his room or sword fighting with his Master.

After moments of just wishing and hoping, Link's eyes suddenly flew open in a great realization. He was not going to give up, there was still hope.

Quickly Link rummaged through his pockets and found the one thing that could help beat the odds. A fairy! He quickly opens the bottle and frees the fairy. Once she's free, the fairy notices Link's awful injuries and goes straight to work. Her healing magic relieves his pain and brings back much of his energy but sadly not enough to use any magic except maybe use a single fire arrow, it will have to do though.

Once her job was complete, the fair disappeared, leaving pink dust in her wake. Link was back on his feet again and ready to fight. Adrenaline pumped through his system vigorously. There was no pain anywhere in his body. Even his arm that was burned by the dragons flaming breath was completely back to normal and usable.

The dragon snorted in annoyance. This boy just won't give up. The dragon charged at Link but was stopped when another fire arrow was shot at his good wing. More pain coursed through him as the fire from the arrow burned away the webbing that gave him flight. This child was more skilled than the dragon gave him credit for.

Link ran and rolled on the ground, quickly getting behind the dragon and slashing upwards, dealing a painful blow. The dragon was roaring and squirming in utter agony, trying to fight off the child was proving to be immensely difficult.

The boy actually started to feel bad about causing the dragon such distress and hated hearing his pained cries. He pulled out his ocarina while the dragon was distracted with his new wound and started playing the two songs he knew. The sun song, when he played it, weakened the dragon greatly, taking much of his strength away. The lullaby that granted the boy entrance to this room made the dragon very drowsy and act almost in a trance-like state.

Link walked up to the front of the dragon and watched the rise and fall of the dragon's chest. He thought carefully where to strike and lifted up his sword. This was it, Link's big chance to finally end this. He raised his blade high over his head, breathed in deeply, and then plunged the sharp metal into the dragons flesh through his heart. The dragon cried out, lifting his head up high, screaming into the heavens, roaring his pain up to the goddesses.

Link left the sword within the dragons body for a few more moments then slowly pulled it out. Black blood quickly and freely flowed from the dragons fatal wound. The dragon's life liquid encased the boy's blade and dripped onto the floor, mixing with the black puddle forming at his feet.

The dragon brought his head back down and fell over. The room shook from the dragon's massive body toppling over onto the ground. His breathing was deep despite the gaping wound in his chest but every once in a while his breathing would hitch in his throat.

A chime was heard a couple feet away and sparkles of light came together and collected into a ball then took on the form of a chest. Link looked towards where the sound was coming from and saw the chest and sighed in relief then turned his attention back towards the dragon.

The dragon also saw the chest and then locked eyes with the young child with a visible smile formed on his muzzle. "_You have done what others could not. You have defeated me in battle and have won the item I was sworn to keep under my guardianship. Take your prize"_ The dragon praised and nodded towards the chest. Link smiled and ran over towards the chest.

He opened it with great haste and took the heavy item out. Examining it, it looked to be broken, only half a piece of what should be there. It was obvious it was some kind of sword but the piece Link held was only the hilt and it wasn't much to look at either.

_This is it? What Master wanted me to get?_ Link thought a bit disappointedly. _After all I had to go through I get this broken piece of junk!_ Suddenly a golden light started to shine from his hand. It was at first very bright but then it dimmed enough to look at it without hurting your eyes.

On the back of Link's hand showed the all-powerful triforce. Link stared at it in awe and the dragon's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. The dragon couldn't believe his eyes. No matter how much he blinked or thought he was seeing things, the triforce was still plastered on the boy's hand.

"_Child, come over here and show me your hand. I must have a closer look!"_ The dragon bellowed and breaking Link's trance of the new discovery. He strapped the hilt piece on his back, walked over to the dragon and held up his hand with the symbol. The image was still shining but was quickly fading.

"_So…it is true. You are him reborn." _Link brought his hand down to his side and stared up at the dragon, confused. The dragon stayed in his side and pondered for a moment, while healing the large hole in his heart and chest. Since dragons are immortal, they can live through usually fatal attacks, so to the dragon the injury was just a flesh wound despite the pain it caused.. He was also already healing his burned wings.

"What do you mean reborn? And who is 'him'?" Link asked wanting to sort out the confusion and get some answers.

"_He is your ancestor who will be a great ally in the near future. But I cannot tell you much for you are still too young to learn about your destiny. You must wait until the time comes, then all will be revealed."_ The dragon lifted his head up and stared into Link's electric eyes seeing the unbreakable spirit his ancestors once had. "_Go child, Lord Ghirahim will be unpleased if you don't show up soon. I will heal you of any injuries you have and fix and cleanse your tunic once you step into the portal that will teleport you outside the castle. Hurry now boy!" _A portal soon appeared in the center of the room waiting for Link to step in it.

Link walked up to the portal but then stopped and looked back at the dragon who was watching him intently. "What is your name?" He asked with his head tilted at an angle. _"Xiuhcoatl is my name. Now go!" _The dragon answered, and hurried him to the portal.

Link stepped inside the portal and found a heart container. He quickly grabbed it and felt it being absorbed into his skin. Any injury he had was washed away. _"That heart container is my gift to you. I hope it helped. Once your outside, your tunic will be cleaned in fixed." _Link started to spin around and lift into the air, disappearing then reappearing in front of the castle. It was dawn. The sun was barely showing its glowing head and the sky was a dark maroon and violet. The last thing Link heard from Xiuhcoatl was something that kept repeating in his head.

"_We will meet again!_"

_**Authors Comments:**_** This chapter did not want to cooperate with me at all. This was supposed to be published a LONG time ago but I was struggling a lot with it to a point where I actually wanted to give up, but as you can see I didn't and will not anytime soon. This story shall continue till the very end! Anyways R&R please and I hope you enjoy where this is all going! Oh yeah and this is officially my longest chapter yet. Just saying :D**


	14. Going Where?

Checking himself over and making sure everything was with him (mostly his prized blanket) Link made his way towards the castle at a steady pace. The glow of the Triforce on his hand had died down and only pale peach skin showed once again. He ascended the large, wide steps of the castle to the large double doors that led inside.

Opening the doors, Link quietly walked inside knowing most everyone is asleep except for a few servants making breakfast. There was minimal light from the flickering dim flames of the chandeliers. Closing the door behind him, he walked up the spiral staircase to the top floor where his and Ghirahim's rooms are along with the most loyal and trustworthy servants'.

He walked down the narrow hallway and stopped in front of his Master's door. He opened his Master's door carefully not wanting to wake the Demon Lord up if he was asleep and peaked inside.

A small candle was lit by the window and Ghirahim was fully awake, sitting at his desk and flipping through pages in books. The Demon Lord's pointed ear twitched a bit, hearing Link opening his door. He looked in the direction of the boy and smiled.

Link quickly bowed respectfully to his Master. "You have finally returned, child. You have been away for two day and thirteen hours. I was starting to suspect something was amiss for I wasn't expecting you to take so long retrieving what I want. Stand up straight, Link, and show me my item." Ghirahim stood and took a step towards the boy. Link did as he was told and grabbed the hilt piece still on his back and presented it to his Master.

The Demon Lord brows rose a bit then furrowed. Something was wrong. Link could see something wasn't right by the way his Master looked at the object in his hands.

The Demon Lord reached out and took the hilt, examining it and caressing it, frowning. Link looked into Ghirahim's eyes and saw they drooped a bit from lack of sleep. How long has he been up anyways? But looking past the sleep deprived expression his eyes gave off; there was an expression of bewilderment and disappointment.

"Link," Ghirahim started not looking away from the hilt. Link's thoughts broke when hearing his Master's voice. "Did you find another piece to this?" Ghirahim's eyes now rested on the child before him. The boy shook his head. "Do you think you accidentally left the other piece down there?" He asked, his eyes narrowing on the boy.

Link shook his head again. "No, Master. I checked everywhere down there. There was no sign of another piece." He responded, his voice was low and a little sad.

"Hmm," Ghirahim held out his hand with the hilt in it, giving back to Link. The child was now confused with this act. Didn't Ghirahim want it? "Hold onto it for me. I trust you more than anyone else."

Link held the hilt for a few moments then strapped it on his back once again. "I must say," the child brought his attention back to his Master. "You did a good job. Unfortunately, you are filthy. Though your clothes are clean, your skin is riddled in dirt and dried blood. And your dirty blonde hair definitely is dirty. But sadly there is no time to bathe. "Ghirahim sighed and started walking towards the door. "Come, breakfast is ready. We will head out after we are done." Link followed his Master to the dining hall.

The dining hall was an extravagant room. There was a long table that could seat many. On both ends of the table were large chairs that looked like smaller versions of thrones. Ghirahim sat on one end and Link sat next to him. The other throne once belonged to the Demon King, so no one dared to sit in it.

Soon all the chairs around the dining table were filled and plates of food were spread out on top of the surface. The demons piled on their plates, making sure they would have plenty of energy for the day. Link looked around and saw everyone grab more than they usually do and instead of milk or orange juice that a lot of the demons drank at breakfast, everyone was drinking plenty of water. It confused him to see such change.

Link started piling his own plate and sipped at his own glass of water. "Child," Ghirahim looked at Link and placed a little more food on his slave's plate than he usually ate. "Eat all you can and drink plenty of water. Today is a big day after all and I need you to have plenty of energy."

The boy looked at his plate for a moment then started eating. He was very confused. What was going on, he didn't know, but like he always did, he did as his Master said. The child didn't even know how hungry he was until he took his first bite of eggs. He wanted to stuff his face and sate his painful hunger but kept eating at an even pace. Ghirahim was very strict when it came to manners and stuffing ones face is both rude and can make one sick.

Finally, everyone finished their meal and exited the room. Link stood up as a couple bokoblins came in and cleared the table. He was about to leave the room when Ghirahim gestured for him to follow. "Come, child," The Demon Lord called for his slave. Link nodded and followed closely behind his Master.

They walked outside into the morning air. The sun was now high enough to brighten the world below. "Link; do you know where we're going?" Ghirahim asked while taking long strides down the castles path to the front gate where most everyone was waiting.

"No, Master. Where are we going?" Link wondered keeping his tone quiet but light. His Master was about to answer but was interrupted by one of his soldiers waiting by the gate. "Lord Ghirahim, we caught him. Baal and Jahi are bringing him down from the Mountains. They should be here shortly." The soldier reported. Who did they catch? Link wondered quietly. "Thank you, Melchom." Melchom nodded in response.

A few moments passed and soon an all too familiar roar was heard. Link looked to the skies and saw a white figure descending rapidly with Baal and Jahi on its back. Link's eyes widened recognizing the white figure being Xiuhcoatl.

All too quickly, Xiuhcoatl landed roughly on the ground in front of the gate bellowing unhappily. A chain wrapped tightly around the dragon's neck slightly cutting into his scaly neck, irritating him. The dragon's eyes moved around rapidly and stopped as he saw Link standing among the crowd of demons. Despite all that has happened to Xiuhcoatl, he smiled upon seeing the boy who bested him in battle and calmed down.

"Ah, finally! Now that my slave has returned and we have this beast captured, there is no need to linger here any longer." Ghirahim announced. He took ahold of Link's forearm and teleported on top of the dragon's back. "Come, my underlings. We shall set a course to the northeast. All who wish to stay behind make sure the castle is in perfect condition the next time I return." Once that was said, the demons following the Demon Lord cheered and started to migrate. The Demon Lord waited a few moments making sure Link was sitting properly with no risk of falling off, and then took hold of the chains wrapped around Xiuhcoatl's neck, commanding the dragon to take flight.

Link sat in front of his Master and held onto the dragon's neck. Ghirahim's arms were on either side of the boy, firmly holding the chains, and expertly flying Xiuhcoatl with ease. They flew at a clam pace, flying high above the other demons.

On the ground, not all demons were walking only on foot. Many were riding large arachnids whether it is a giant spider with a soft underbelly or a scorpion with one eye. They were controllable creatures and are easy to ride as long as you feed them properly. Others like the bokoblins, had carts being pulled by massive Fire Lizards. These carts carried women with very young children or carried food and water, tents, weapons, and some books.

The day was like any other day, hot, and Link was starting to sweat. Flying on Xiuhcoatl's back did help greatly though, with the dragon's wings fanning cooling air his way. But the heat was still awful. The boy looked up at his Master, who was concentrating on the skies and his minions below. "Master, where are we going?" He asked, curiosity becoming too much not to ask.

The Demon Lord looked down at the child and smiled a little. "You'll see soon enough," Was all he said and turned his attention back at the skies. Link frowned a bit then turned his head away watching little tiny puffs of clouds pass by and fade.

Just where were they going?

_**Author's comments:**_** Yay another chapter done. I will probably not be writing for the next couple days since I am in the middle of doing finals. After that it will be summer vacation and I will write all I can to entertain you all. So with that said and done, R&R plz :3**


	15. A Peaceful Lullaby

Riding a dragon bareback after several hours is quite painful. At least that's what Link was thinking. His rear and lower back ached. The need to stand and stretch was becoming too much for the boy to handle. He would often squirm a bit, trying to sit more comfortably but failing miserably.

Ghirahim noticed the child shifting often and saw an uncomfortable expression dawned on his face. The Demon Lord sighed. It was very understandable that the boy was uncomfortable. He wasn't used to riding anything, let alone riding something bareback.

Only one other time did Link ride a creature. It was a Skulltula and it wasn't for very long. Apparently Skulltula's only think of human's as a source of food and not a companion. Either that or Link just smelled delicious to the Skulltula. Either way, that day caused some problems. Link developed a slight fear of the arachnid species and Ghirahim almost lost his little slave child. Plus, the Demon Lord for three days had to take care of the child since the Skulltula injected its paralyzing venom into the boy's neck. Yes, it took a good three days for that venom to wear off and for Link to gain complete control over his body. The boy said, after regaining mobility again that it felt weird to move his stiff limbs since it felt as if he had none the entire time. Who would have thought such a well tamed and gentle being could become so vicious. Anyways never again did Link try riding a creature, until now, but Ghirahim was there ensuring nothing happens to him.

Link once again shifted and sighed, his bottom starting to go numb and fall asleep while his back popped every once and awhile, alleviating little pain. Ghirahim looked down once more at the child then back towards the skies. It was already an hour after dusk and they left practically at dawn. No doubt his minions were getting tired from their journey and the Demon Lord was feeling a bit stiff himself. It was probably a good time to set up camp.

Ghirahim looked down at the ground. Though dark, his vision was still perfectly clear in the night. Looking back up, the Demon Lord sped Xiuhcoatl up and gradual descended. They flew ahead of the other demons and landed about a quarter of a mile up the road.

Ghirahim slid off the dragon and landed gracefully on the ground despite his stiff limbs. He then turned and held his arms up and hands stretched out to help Link down. Link carefully slid into the Demon Lord's arms and was set on the ground gently. He never let go of the chain around the dragon's neck.

The child did what he's been aching to do for hours. He stretched and moved around as bones popped and limbs finally woke up after the long trip.

Quickly, the other demons met up with them. They were all breathing tiredly as they came to a stop, their arachnids falling to the ground, happily resting, not willing to move another inch. Lucky they wouldn't have to. "We shall set up camp here then head out before dawn." Ghirahim announced. Everyone sighed in relief and with great haste, set up tents and a quick fire, cooking dinner since everyone was very hungry. Link was starving. He wasn't used to going hours without food. But the demons were and they could easily go several more days without food before they got severe hunger pains. Another disadvantage of being human, Link sighed inwardly.

Link was extremely tired also and felt disgusting. His tunic was covered in dried sweat and that sweat was combined with dried blood and dirt on his skin. Where was bath when you needed one? He frowned, hating feeling so gross.

His Master then suddenly walked up behind him and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "After we eat, you are most definitely getting a bath. I cannot stand to see you in this state. It disgusts me greatly." The Demon Lord grumbled and took his hand away.

The Demon Lord assessed the tent he would be staying in along with the boy. It was fairly large for a tent. Ghirahim would be able to stand full up without his head hitting the top and would be able to sleep with his legs completely straight. There were also cots on the inside so they wouldn't have to sleep on the rugged ground.

Twenty minutes went by and dinner was finally served. Link dug into it happily, his stomach no longer aching or empty. He was the first one to finish his meal. The bokoblins and other lowly demons cleaned up afterwards like usual and Ghirahim grabbed hold of the boy's hand.

Link jumped a little when he felt his Master's hand grab his. Ghirahim chuckled a bit at this and started leading him away from the campsite. "There's a small river up ahead. We'll clean you in that, and I have clean pajamas for you to change into while that tunic is properly scrubbed and dried. You'll be able to wear it in the morning." Link nodded and continued to follow the Demon Lord, not that he really had a choice.

Soon the sound of flowing water entered Link's pointed ears. It took every ounce of his will to not escape his Master's grasp and cleanse himself of his filth. The river came into view and looked dazzling in the low light of the moon. They came to a stop at the river's bank.

"Hurry and undress and start bathing while I scrub your clothes." Ghirahim said. Link complied and undressed. He didn't really care if Ghirahim was watching since he was the one who raised him after all and it's not like he hasn't seen anything before so there was no point to be shy and embarrassed.

The child handed Ghirahim his clothes and submerged into the water. The water's current wasn't very strong and it only went up to Link's waist. The boy proceeded to wash himself, scrubbing away all that riddled his skin.

The Demon Lord walked over a ways away from the boy and started to cleanse his tunic. While doing so, he found the child's blanket tucked away in one of the pockets and decided to also clean it since it too was a bit filthy.

While his Master washed the residue off of his clothes and blanket, Link finished bathing and started to play in the water like he did when he was little. Ghirahim watched while he worked and smiled. The boy was growing up quickly but that young child that hadn't a care in the world would still show from time to time. Sadly all good things must come to an end, and this one's end is rapidly approaching.

Link's POV:

I lay on my cot inside Master's and I's tent. I kept shifting, tossing and turning trying to sleep but my eyes refused to stay closed and my mind would not turn off. Master is already well asleep and has been for a good half hour. I sigh and quietly get up and walk outside.

The ashes from the burned wood in the fire pit we used earlier were still red with heat and some smoke still rose from the wooden remains. I sat down near the fire pit and stared at the embers and just thinking about everything.

I don't know how long I sat there until I found I wasn't alone outside. My three friends actually came out from their tents also and sat next to me, waiting for me to notice them. I'm actually a little surprise they decided to journey with us to this unknown destination. Well unknown to me, I'm sure everyone else knows but won't tell me.

"How long have you all been sitting there?" I whisper not taking my eyes away from the dying embers. "Don't worry we've only just sat down a few minutes ago so you don't have to feel completely stupid." Adam teased. He was the oldest of our group and thinks of me more as a little brother that just loves teasing and toying with me. I turn to look at him.

He's the same as always, extremely tall, almost the height of my Master. His skin is a sandy red color and his hair flows over his shoulders and is orange with light pink highlights. His eyes are a golden color. He is wearing a tunic like mine but it's more of a reddish brown color and it has no hat and is made up of animal furs. Everything about him gives off a feral look which is ironic since he is actually very nice. He is to train in the demonic army which is why he is dressed as he is.

Then there is Andreas. He is two year younger than me and is extremely small. He has grass like green eyes; his hair is a baby blue and is spiked. His skin is a turquoise color, and he is a little shorter than a bokoblin. Andreas is to become a warrior at least that's what his parents decided. He is a stealthy fighter with plenty of stamina to burn but his size is the only disadvantage.

And last but not least, Melanie. She is about my age and she seems like a sweet, delicate flower, but in truth she is not. She is more like a silent, camouflaged cobra, waiting patiently to strike. When we first met, she gave me no mercy or respect, until I beat her in a simple duel. Then we became good friends. We pick on each other a lot though but we know we're just teasing. Her skin is the color of fresh snow and her hair is a light grey that cascades like a gentle river down her back. Her eyes are a calming lilac. All of this works for her in the art of deception.

We all watch the smoke rising from the pit then I stand, not wanting to sit any longer since I've been sitting all day. "So, do any of you know where we're going?" I ask. They all nod and smirk at me. "I'm guessing none of you are going to tell me." I state and they all nod again and Melanie speaks up. "If you weren't splashing around in the river like a two year old, you would've found out since Ghirahim did tell us. But he also said not to spoil the surprise for you. Too bad for the little human, hehe." She giggled. I roll my eyes and give her a look. She just sticks her tongue out at me and stands up, walking away. Did I also mention she can be completely immature?

I am about to say something when I hear a deep sigh that couldn't have been made by anything human or demon. I look around and see Xiuhcoatl chained up. I guess Master didn't trust him to stay put. I start to walk over to him. "Hey Link, what are you doing? Don't go near him. Lord Ghirahim said not to." Adam hollers. I brush his statement off with a wave of my hand and continue towards Xiuhcoatl.

The dragon sees me walking over to him and lifts his head. _"You should be sleeping, child," _is all he says. I give him a sheepish smile and stop walking. "I want some answers." I state and Xiuhcoatl gives me a curious look then exhales loudly. _"I'll answer what I can."_

My friends come up behind me and stare at Xiuhcoatl in awe. "Wow, he can talk!" Andreas's mouth is gaping open and Melanie roughly shuts his mouth close. "Come one you two. We should rest since tomorrow is the day we finally arrive." My friends leave me with Xiuhcoatl. I start asking my questions.

"_Your future was predestined before the Demon Lord came and took you into his care. You are still destined to follow your ancestors' path but because of the Demon Lord's interference in your life, things have changed. You now have a choice. Follow the legend of old and do as you should or do what you want and follow your own path. You are still too young to carry out on your journey and we are yet to be in the right place for you to do so, but if you do chose to follow destiny, then you will know when the time is right to act," _The dragon lowly bellows. Link always thought following his Master was his destiny and was to be forever his life but now he was given a choice and a difficult one at that. "What else do you know about me?" I ask. I had to know. How was it possible this dragon knew more about me and my future than myself?

"_I know all about you, child. Your soul, your destiny, everything! You are no secret to the gods or the sages, or even a washed up old sage like me. I once was a glorious sage, a fiery red guardian dragon who controlled the mortal Realm's magma; I even had a different name. My name was Eldin and I once assisted the Chosen Hero but I was a sad excuse. I let demons take control of my red mountain and stayed hidden in my chambers and almost killed the Hero himself because of my power by accident. I was replaced afterwards and a new Eldin took my place as the sage. I was assigned to guard the ancient treasure but was only given half. The other half is somewhere in the Mortal Realm. I only changed my name because I could no longer be called Eldin when another Eldin took my place._

"_Even after my misfortunes, the Goddesses still communicated with me for some time. Only recently have their voices been silent to my ears. I suspect the Demon Lord already knows of whom you truly are and that is why he took you into his care; to stop you from completing your destiny."_

"But, Master told me it was because my mother died of fatal injuries and he took me in and he's never talked about me being a Chosen Hero…" I was going to say more before Xiuhcoatl cut me off.

"_Your mother did die of injuries but from injuries inflicted by the Demon Lord himself. He killed your mother and took you as his slave and he never talks about your destiny because he doesn't want you to have one. He doesn't want you to know what you're supposed to do."_

Hearing this, I felt rage boil in me. How dare he say Master do such a deed! Despite his temper, he would have never killed my mother. _NEVER!_

"You lie. Master cares for me deeply and not just as a slave. Master would never lie to me. He would never!" I started to get chocked up with anger and tears stung the brim of my eyes. No, I would not cry over something like this. I would not cry dammit!

"_I do not lie. I only speak the truth. The Demon Lord lies to you and you lie to yourself. You know deep down it is all true and your emotions are even telling you so. You are only fighting a losing battle."_

"Shut up!" I shout, but quickly close my mouth. I should have never started asking him questions, but it's true. I know I'm only lying to myself. I'm a fool. I'm such a fool. Tears start to slide down my face and fall to the parched earth below. My vision blurs from the tears but I can see sympathy in the dragon's eyes. He changes the subject.

"_You couldn't sleep because you didn't have your favorite blanket with you. There is a story behind that blanket if you would like to hear it." _He asked gaining my attention. I nod, wiping away my tears and lay in the crook of his arm. It's much softer than his back so I don't ache when I lay in it.

"_That blanket was once Hylia's Chosen Hero's sailcloth. He used it to get down to the surface from his home in the sky. It helped him greatly in his journey to save his friend and it was also made by that same friend. Since then, that sailcloth became a blanket for their children and children's children and is now in your possession. As you've noticed it does have plenty of wear and tear from it over the years." _The dragon explained. I had a small smile on my face from hearing the small story. Now I knew that blanket was more of a family heirloom. No wonder I was so very much attached to it. _"It's late, child. You must sleep now." _Xiuhcoatl hummed. "I can't sleep without my blanket though." I said quietly, my eyes now down casted. My tattered blanket was hanging with my tunic to dry and I was getting it back when we depart.

"_I know of an ancient lullaby that is as old as the stars. I can lull you to sleep with it."_ He offers. I nod my head. I was tired, it's just my brain would silence. Hopefully this lullaby will work.

"_Sleep my child,  
>Go to sleep my child,<br>Dream sweet dreams of olden times."_

I closed my eyes, resting my head on his arm. His voice was soothing and comforting. The dragon also hummed to the beat. It sounded just like that one lullaby I found when I was younger.

"_Dream my child,  
>Sweet dreams my child,<br>Rest your weary mind."_

My mind started to quiet down and take in the beautiful lyrics.

"_Waltz under moonlit trees,  
>Sail all the wondrous seas,<br>Give into all your dreams,  
>And sleep"<em>

I sighed contently, feeling light_._

"_Sleep my child  
>Go to sleep my child<br>Have no fear  
>I'm here by your side"<em>

I felt my mind start to drift.

"_Dream my child,  
>Sweet dreams my child,<br>The sun has said goodnight"_

I was finally relaxed.

"_Drift through the open sky,  
>Wings spread and spirits high,<br>Wave as the clouds go by,  
>And Sleep"<em>

I felt like I was flying. Maybe I really was; it felt that real.

"_Sleep my child,  
>Sleep my child,<br>Sleep,  
>Sleep,<br>Sleep."_

Not long after, I drifted into unconsciousness.

_**Author's comments:**_** That didn't take as long as I thought. Sorry peoples it was more of a filler chapter but I felt I had to put it in. Anyways hope you liked it R&R plz.**

**Oh and the lullaby I found on youtube.**

** watch ?v = kCzZrIUDuS0**


	16. The Portal

_Link was flying on his crimson loftwing towards his home in Skyloft. He was older by three years and was content. His friends were waiting for him to land by the bazaar. He was about to jump off his loftwing when everything went dark and a large scaly beast with sharp teeth and some kind of designed spike coming out of his head emerged out of seemingly nowhere. He was going to fly away but found his loftwing gone also and now he was floating in nothing. Even the creature was now gone. A voice was heard but its owner couldn't be found. It sounded heavenly. "Child…it's time to wake." It sounded like a holy woman's voice. Its melody and tone was hypnotic. Glorious! "Link, wake up. My child, it's time to choose. Wake up!" She almost sounded pleading but then the voice changed. It now sounded male and more sinister. Darker! "Wake up, boy!" The dark creature now came back with a devilish smirk and opened his mouth, about to devour him._

My eyes snapped open as I sat up quickly, but falling off the cot in the process. I groaned from the short fall and saw white boots by my face. "Honestly boy, I know how much you love to bow down to me but this is just ridiculous." My Master laughs and grabs my arm. "Come on, get up! It's time to get ready to leave." Master pulls me up onto my feet and dusts me off a little. He heads out of the tent while I grab my bearings. I felt groggy and had a slight headache from falling off the cot. That dream, was very vivid and seemed almost real. It also seemed familiar like I've dreamed something similar before. I just shake my head ridding the image from my thoughts and head out. I look around for Master and see him walking towards me with my tunic and blanket it hand. I suddenly got excited and run towards my Master before he got to me. He smiles and hands me my stuff, puts his hand on my head, and ruffles my tawny hair. I smile also and watch him walk away to speak with some other demons.

I walk back into the tent, take the pajama's I'm wearing off, put my tunic on, and fold my blanket, putting it gently in my pocket. I walk back out of the tent and look up at the sky. It's still pitch dark. Andreas walked up to me with a small lantern in hand and a bottle of water. "Here," He says, holding up the bottle. I take it gratefully as he walks away. I take the top off of the bottle and guzzle it down, quenching my thirst. I was also hungry, but by looking at everyone scrambling around to get things ready to go, I guess we wouldn't have breakfast.

I yawn, still feeling a little groggy and rub my eyes then I walk over to Master. "Now can I know where we're going?" I ask for possibly the zillionth time. "Patience, child! You'll know when we get there." Master says while he prepares Xiuhcoatl for flight. I sigh and look over to where my friends are getting ready. Adam is feeding his Skulltula some raw meat and stroking its fuzzy head while saying some loving words to it. I cringe a bit then look to my other friends. Melanie was practicing her sword skills before being interrupted by one of the soldiers to get into the cart. She started to argue with him because she didn't want to. And Andreas is handing everyone water, giving riders some meat to feed their beasts, and making sure all was good and ready to go.

Master walks up behind me and teleports us onto Xiuhcoatl's back once again. I wince from my sore muscles coming in contact with the dragon's rough backside. We don't take off right away; instead, Master watches everyone for a while then turns his attention to me. "You look tired, Link. Did you not sleep well?" He asks. I just shrug. He grabs my chin and forces me to look up at him. The angle is a little painful since my neck shouldn't turn as far as it is now but Master keeps his grip and looks directly into my eyes. He looks into my eyes with his own brown pools narrowed as if trying to figure something out by looking into my sapphire irises. Finally, he lets go of my chin and I rub my neck. I then stop and turn my head to where Master can't see my eyes.

The conversation I had with Xiuhcoatl still echoed in my mind. I don't know if any of what the dragon said is true, but deep down something tells me he is. I don't want to face that truth though. Already, I'm having uncertainties towards Master and sooner or later, he'll notice and question me about it. Luckily, I have some time before that happens.

My stomach growls loudly, ripping me out of my thoughts. I wrap my arms around my midsection, trying fruitlessly to muffle the sound. It catches Master's attention and I can hear his giggles behind me. He then takes something out and hands it to me. I look at it and smile a tiny bit up at Master and thank him. I eat the mango Master gave to me quickly, sating my hunger for now. All negative thoughts about Master are erased by the time we finally start to ascend back into the air towards our destination.

**Ghirahim's POV:**

A couple hours went by and Link fell asleep while we flew. The sun was low over the horizon, giving the world a bright but deadly looking fire color since we were passing over 'no demons land.' It was the driest and most deserted area of our realm. Hardly any go through. One must be fully prepared to go through these lands and survive unscathed or even at all. My demons are completely prepared and have plenty of water down there with them. I, too, have brought water up with me, so neither, Link nor I dehydrate.

My little slave child rests his head upon my chest, since, even sitting down, he is far too short to reach my shoulder. I'm sure he had much trouble sleeping last night since he didn't have that god awful blanket with him. Oh well, it's not like I can really do anything about it…well I can, but I choose not to since I just cannot have the child angry with me. He is the key to ensure my victory in the mortal realm. Soon, all the humans will be under the control of my Master…that is, unless he's already been reincarnated, then for all I know he's already ruling them with an iron fist. If that's the case then the only thing that would ruin it all are those damn Sheikah!

I hear the dragon grumble something I couldn't understand and catches my attention. So, it really is true. This dragon can actually speak.

"You know dragon, if there's something you'd like to say, speak it loud enough for me to hear." I state while tugging slightly on the chain wrapped around the dragons neck. He growls at me and I smirk, tugging a bit harder, causing the dragon discomfort. The dragon looks back at me, hatred in his eyes then looks in front, gaining speed. His wings flapped harder, gaining higher altitude and acceleration. The wind from the dragons wings whip my white curtain of hair from my face, exposing my eye, the black diamond on my face, and my one imperfection, the small round ear. Plus the wind was ruining my perfect white locks, tangling them and putting them far out of place.

I feel something start to shift as we fly faster. I look down and see Link about to fall off. With quick reflexes, I catch the boy and put him in a more secure position. I tighten my grip on the chain and give a sharp yank, stopping the dragon and cutting his skin. Small droplets of black liquid dripped from the new wound I inflicted on the dragon. He whimpered and growled in pain.

"Do not test me, dragon, or else you'll be in an early grave!" I hiss and force the dragon to proceed with flight with me back in control. I free one of my hands from the chain and smooth over my hair, running my fingers through any tangles and bringing it forward to fall over the left half of my face once again. "Much better," I say to no one in particular, wrapping my free arm around Link securly. I look down at Link, making sure he is alright. He is heavily asleep in my arms and I am glad he looks to be fine. The dragon's voice grabs my attention.

"You will fall," he growls, looking at me from the corner of his eyes and giving me a very hateful glare. My eyes narrow into slits as I stare him down. If looks could kill, this dragon would already be dead three times over.

"I will fall?!"I questionably hiss, angered by this Dragon's sudden words.

"You're time as Lord will come to an end as will your life. It's only a matter of time until evil is once again swept clean from the world." He says, looking in front of him as we soar through the hot air. Now I understand what he's really talking about. He honestly believes that the Hero of Legend will rise again and fight back the evil. To fight me?!

I smile darkly and chuckle under my breath. "Sorry to rain on your parade, but that's not going to happen. The Hero will never rise, because I won't let him. Everyone around me, including you, is and will always be under my control."

"Just because you ride me now, doesn't mean I'll always be your slave. I only stay for the boy!" The dragon bellows, tensing with, what I presume, rage.

"That's what you think now, but in due time, you'll bow to me like all the others," I sneer with a grin. The Dragon just snorts and says nothing. We continued on in silence, a wicked smile never leaving my face.

**Link's POV:**

By the time I wake up, it's late in the day. I open my eyes and rub the sleep from them, still feeling very groggy, but much better than before. I look up at Master and see he is fully concentrated on flying with, what seemed to be a devious smirk. I also notice his arm wrapped protectively around my waist. What happened while I was asleep? Was I about to fall or something?

I sit up in Master's arms and stretch. I wince as I feel the throbbing pain in my lower back. Master looks down at me and his devious smirk is replaced with a more genuine smile.

"Well hello sleepyhead. Have a nice nap?" Master chuckles a bit and looks back out at the sky. I nod and watch the small wisps of clouds pass by. Something about Master saying 'sleepyhead' clicked into my mind. He has never said it before, in fact no one has, but, in my mind, I can hear someone saying it…a girl in fact. Could she have been from my childhood? Or maybe-

My thoughts were cut off as I felt Master speed Xiuhcoatl up. I look in front of us and see a dark red area coming into view. I realize as we fly closer and begin our descent into that area, the air is much colder. The sky is dark with stormy clouds. And the ground looks mucky but cracking, as if it's been forever since the earth below has had water. Why would Master stop here?

We finally land after several minutes and Xiuhcoatl growls, looking around hesitantly. Everyone else follows suit, dismounting there beasts, drinking what is left of their water. Master jumps down and lands with precise grace. Like a remlit or its younger cousin, the cat. I careful slide of the dragons back and land a bit clumsily. I then cough a little. My mouth is awfully dry. Master looks back at me and hands me what's left of our own water. I take it quickly, lowly saying a 'thank you' then gulping down ever last drop there was left. I coughed a little more but my mouth felt much better. Master leaves me with Xiuhcoatl while he assesses everyone then quickly walks up to me.

"Stick close to me, child," he says, grabbing my arm and leading me. I look at all the demons that followed. They were grabbing the reins of their arachnids and leading them. Some would not go so they had to bait them with raw meat. The sight sort of sickened me so I looked away and focused on where Master was taking me.

We approach a crumbled rock wall. By the looks of it, there was a rockslide. I look up at Master questioningly. He didn't notice. His face was unreadable. He let go of my arm and turned away walking towards Xiuhcoatl. "Stay here," he ordered, his face staying hard as he left. I did as he said and stayed, staring at the rubble of stone and red dirt.

This place…there is something about this place. Some sort of power. I can sense it. It's strong and calls to me. This feeling…it's familiar and it's coming from behind these rocks. What is this power I sense? I hear a soft humming sound as I put my hand on one of the rocks. I watch as the warm soft glow of the triforce illuminate from my hand.

The light fades once I take my hand off the rock. I look at my hand once more then drop it to my side, turning to see Xiuhcoatl charging in my direction. His horns pointed downwards, ready to destroy all in his path. I looked into the dragon's eyes and I could see he was telling me to move. I ran out of the way in time just as Xiuhcoatl crashed his horns into the rubble. Some of the demons and Skulltulas also helped remove the rockslide. In twenty minutes, the rockslide is cleared and some sort of ancient marble shrine appears. It almost looks to be a gateway to something.

Master suddenly appears behind me and grabs my wrist, leading me towards the crumbled shrine. Everyone else waits patiently behind, watching intently of our movements. We approached the shrine, Master stopped my movements. He wiped away some dust and dirt on the side of the shrine and gripped my wrist a little tighter. Once the grime was wiped away, Master grinned and stepped aside, revealing a teal symbol. The symbol was an intricate flower design and in the middle of it was a hand mark.

Master pulled me closer to him and turned my palm upwards. He then brought out a ceremonial dagger. It almost looked like the one he used to mark me but it was a bluish-white color. Just like the other, this one pulsed, thirsty for blood. But something was different. This dagger, though thirsty for blood spill, didn't have a dark aura emanating from it. Instead it seemed to be giving off a pure light.

"Hold still. This will only hurt a bit," Master warned. Quickly, Master dragged the dagger across my palm, slashing it enough to draw blood. I yelped in pain. This dagger gave me more pain than the dark one. A slight sizzling sound came from my hand as I felt a burning in my wound. The dagger glowed, satisfied with my blood. Suddenly, Master took my hand and placed it on the hand marking of the flower design. The marking glowed and my blood ran down the marble, following the flower design as the hand marking shined.

The pain subsided and soon was gone once the flower was glowing crimson, the hand marking glowed yellow. I took my hand off of the markings and look at my palm. The cut was already gone and no scar remained. It was as if I was never cut. Ghirahim used the dagger to cut out an exact replica of the design on the other side of the shrine while reciting some ancient spell. It, too, glowed.

The ground started to shake, a strong wind blew out of the shrine, and lightning danced across the sky. The shrine then opened up into a gate. A green and purple vortex swirled within the marble structure. Master commanded everyone to hurry and march through the gate before him and me.

Minutes ticked by as everyone quickly went through the gate, even Xiuhcoatl passed through. Before the last demons walked through, I started to get that headache and dizzy feeling. I tried to will it to pass, but it only got worse. Finally all the demons passed through, leaving Master and I. Master grabbed my arm and led me through the gate. I masked by pain well since Master didn't notice anything wrong with me.

Once on the other side, a bright light blinded me and new smells clouded my nostrils. My eyes adjusted to this bright world. The sun was high in the sky unlike the demon realm. Trees and grass covered land. Small animals ran around, communicating in squeaks and chirps. This place wasn't warm or cold. It was perfect. Soft clouds rolled by and a mild, warming breeze glided by. I felt at peace. I felt at home.

We walked for what seemed like forever. We were all tired, even Master who used up almost all of his magic opening the portal. As we walked I heard the sound of large feet beating against the ground. It came closer, the sound got louder. Master made us all stop and wait. I kept my guard up in case this thing coming closer was a threat.

Not long, three large beasts with their riders ran up to us. They stopped and got off the strange creatures. I assessed the riders and smiled, lowering my guard. The riders were general Adalwin, sword specialist Brando and Melanie's father Babak. For now, I forget about my dizziness and pain.

Adalwin smiles as he sees us. He walks up to Master and formally shakes his hand then looks to me. His eyes grow wide a little from seeing me after all these years. "My- my- my…Lord Ghirahim, the boy has gotten quite big. How old is he now?" Adalwin asks astonished. Master tells him I'm fourteen and Adalwin just shakes his head amazed. Soon the subject changes and I look at the strange beasts standing in front of me. Master's minions are just chatting amongst themselves, waiting for Master's next orders. I decide to approach the otherworldly beasts carefully, my curiosity getting the best of me.

The creatures snort and make odd noises. Xiuhcoatl walks quietly up behind me. "_Those are horses. They are the riding beasts of this world."_ He informs me. I think back to the time I tried riding a skulltula and cringed, backing away slowly from these horses. Xiuhcoatl laughs a little. _"Don't fret boy, they are practically harmless. They feast on grasses and fruit. They only attack when they feel threatened and afraid."_

I walked back up to the horses and brought my hand out and began petting its nose. It fur was soft and the horse didn't mind it at all. Then it happened again. The sudden, excruciating pain, I felt before hit me once more, this time raging war with my head and body. It felt as if an actual battle was being fought within me. I started to hear a voice in my head when all the sound from the outside world disappeared. It was that woman's voice from my dream. Unfortunately I couldn't comprehend what she was saying. I came crashing to the ground and the horse made its weird sound in alarm, drawing everyone's attention, especially General Adalwin and Master. I cried out in pain before blacking out.

**Author's comments: _Wow it's been too long since I last updated. I've had a horrible writers block and it's still there for the most part but it's crumbling and hopefully i'll be able to update quickly like I use to. Well anyways hope you enjoyed. R&R_**


	17. The New World

The New World

-

Link's POV

I was...falling. First into blackness then the world around me became bright with some holy light. My body tingled as I was being engulfed by this light. It felt...powerful. It gave me energy. All the pain I had felt was melting away and I knew I was well again. Something inside me felt right again. I know everything is going to be okay...at least I hope...I continue falling until I hit a soft cloud as if falling on a large pillow. The air was crisp and refreshing. I'm at peace as I briefly forget that this is all just a dream and that Master was waiting for me. "Link." A voice calls to me. It's that soft angelic voice I keep hearing every time I pass out like this. "Your time is approaching, child. You must make a choice!" She says to me. A choice...about what? Before I could ask I suddenly fell from the cloud platform. I fall for a long time. The sky grows black and that beast appears again! The dark beast I've seen before with its scales and dark aura.

I'm about to be devoured like before when I awaken to find myself in a cot. Looking around, I'm in a tent as well. The last thing I remembered was that horrible pain and fainting before Master and General Adalwin. I sighed as I ran my fingers through my tawny blond locks, still feeling a slight headache but a manageable one for sure. "How long was I out?" I asked myself, blinking slowly in thought. "About four day's young child." Someone, a woman, spoke. Looking over at the tent's entrance I see a purple and silver haired demon with green skin clothed in white and right behind her was Master.

Looking over at Master, I gave a small smile but then sighed again. /I must have looked weak to, Master…he hates weakness even in his slaves. / I thought to myself disheartened but Master didn't look disappointed in my weakened state. Maybe he takes pity on me for being a human… "I'm glad to see you're awake, Link. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to lose my precious slave child." Master Ghirahim stated as he walked over to my side and scanned me over quickly with his dark eyes and then gestured to the woman that came in before him who was now ringing water out of a small towel into a bowl. "That over there is the one whom has been healing you. Elthia is her name." Master said. Elthia turned with her towel and bowed slightly then came over to me. "You're lucky, child. Whatever happened had you on the ropes between the living and the dead." Elthia stated practically, checking my forehead and dabbed the damp towel over it. It felt nice actually to feel the cool dampness upon my face.

"Your fever is gone. That's good news" Elthia stated with a smile as she took the damp towel back and placed it into the bowl of water. "How do you feel? Any pain? Achiness? Lethargy?" She questioned me and I rubbed my head. "I still have a slight headache but its fine." I answered. I was fine as far as I felt now but she shook her head. "Stay still." She commanded me and I did as I was told due to habit of being told what to do and obeying. She took her pointer and middle finger and placed them in the middle of my forehead where my "third eye" would be and a bright glow emanated from her hand. At first, my headache became stronger and almost felt like something was stabbing through my skull but then the ache grew dull and warm until it completely faded to where only soft warmth remained. I sighed in relief as she removed her fingers. "Better?" She asked, eyeing me carefully and I nodded. "Yes. Thank you." I respectfully thanked and Master smiled slightly. "Glad to see you're completely well again. Come! I'm sure everyone is awaiting to see you're well again and you need to familiarize yourself with camp. We'll be here a while." He stated as he then moved away from me and stepped out of the tent.

I stood slowly, my legs weak from laying down for so long. I almost fell over but Elthia quickly stabilized me and steadied me on my feet. "Careful now. You don't have to take it easy but you have been in that bed for a while unmoving so I suggest you take it a bit slow until your feet remember how to hold you up right again." She stated as she slowly let go of me. "And please don't get injured or sick anytime soon again because I swear if I have to heal you again anytime soon I'll purposely give you a headache to groan about." Elthia grumbled with a grin on her face and a small quiet chuckled to herself. I blinked for a moment and nodded, walked carefully out of the tent, regaining complete mobility of my legs again. They were stiff but hey, I was finally on my feet and I wasn't falling over.

As I started to pick up speed with my walking as my muscles loosened up, I saw how large the camp really was. Most of the demon army was here. It almost felt like a small village here actually with so many tents and demons roaming around. Many of the soldiers were actually quite relaxed. /Strange…I thought there was a war going on. Would think they'd be more on alert in case they were attacked…" I pondered to myself quizzically but shrugged it off. The relaxed more cheerier atmosphere here actually brought my spirit's up and even energized me.

I looked out upon the landscape of this odd new world. It was so bright. The weather was perfect and the sun seemed to bask me in its warm glow. Creatures roamed free that were quite cute. Water flowed freely down its rivers giving life to the land around it. Everything was so green and the air smelled so fresh. I was greatly enjoying this new land as it seemed to make me feel at home and feel at peace.

As I roamed around the large camp I came across the stables with those strange horse creature. Looking around I was surprised they didn't place the Skulltulas with the horses. As I began to head inside the stables another demon who was sweeping came out and greeted me. "Hello! You must be young Link. I've been hearing quite a lot about you around camp." He stated with a warm smile and I smiled too. He had grey hair and browned skin. Seemed like an older demon then most in the army and wasn't too muscular, nor was he wearing any armor, just regular fur clothing. "Hello and yes I am." I responded. The demon then quickly put up his broom and introduced himself. "I'm Batcho. I take care of the horses here." I nodded and looked over at the horses with interested wanting to know more about them after encountering them several days ago. Batcho kept smiling seeing my interest. "I know you've never seen a horse before since, well the Demon Realm doesn't have any. Only those giant arachnids which thankfully my assistant Kelm is taking care of those things." He stated as he gestured me to follow him into the stables to see the horses. "To be honest I prefer these creatures over those arachnids any day." I nodded in agreement.

He introduced me to all the horses within the stable and I learned how beautiful and amazing they were. Batcho even rode one as demonstration of their grace though some horses did have some serious attitude but none the less they were much better the Skulltulas. Around sunset, Batcho led me to a special stall that contained a female horse, or a "Mare" as they're called. "This be my precious darling, Eponine." Batcho gestured to the eating horse inside the stall. Batcho let me enter the stall with him and he petted Eponine. "She's a beauty, isn't she?" He softly said. I quietly nodded and then noticed a smaller horse within the stall. "Who's that?" I asked curiously and he chuckled lightly as he began to chew on a piece of hay himself. "That there is Epona, Eponine's daughter." He stated as he walked up to the baby horse or "filly" and gently stroked her. I then tried to proceed forward to pet her as well but she feared me. "It's alright," Batcho stated softly. "She's like this with everyone but me which is why the General wants to cut her up for meat…" He sighed sadly and I swear my jaw hit the floor in disgust! "Why?! Why would he do such a thing to her? Just because she's shy doesn't mean she deserves to be killed!" I said angrily, fists clenched. Batcho walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "An untamable horse is no use to our army, at least according to the General. Unless she learns to trust someone other than me and get a rider, I'm afraid it's just a matter of time. And before you ask why I can't keep her, only one horse per demon in this army I'm afraid…" He stated sadly. My blue irises burned with passion as I looked up to the Batcho. "Then I'll be her rider! I'll keep her safe!" I stated proudly but the older demon just shook his head. "You've only just learned about these creatures. You don't even know how to ride one!" I locked eyes with him. My blue meeting his green with determination. "Teach me how to ride then. I promise to work hard and work to gain Epona's trust! I will not stand by and let someone hurt an innocent creature!" I said with an authoritative and even tone.

Batcho pinched the bridge of his nose in thought and sighed. "Alright, Link. I'll teach you." He said after what seemed to be eons of silence. "We'll start first thing in the morning so be ready and well rested!" He stated with a smile once more. I nodded and smiled as well. Waving goodbye, I quickly headed back to my tent when a loud noise stopped me in my tracks. Grasping my stomach, I realized I was starving! I hadn't eaten all day and probably not at all since I was out…

Right on time as usual, Master appears with a bowl of chicken soup and passed it over to me. "I knew you'd be hungry and supper is being served over at the dining tent so I suggest you head on over." He said as he passed over the chicken soup to me. "Thank you, Master." I thanked respectfully with a small smile to him. He lazily ruffled my tawny blond hair and gently pushed me over in the direction of the dining tent. "Supper will only be served for a short while loner so I suggest you get your fill while you can." I nodded and headed over to the dining tent, parting from my Master. For some reason, I actually felt relieved to be away from him. Usually I'm happy to be with my Master…but ever since the Catacombs, I've been feeling a bit uneasy whenever I'm around him. I hope he doesn't catch on anytime soon and just thinks I'm still a bit tired from…whatever knocked me clean out. Many soldiers and other demons were within the tent eating their fill of soup and even chicken legs and beef. My mouth watered as I grabbed up some more food to go with my soup and some milk.

Finding a table, I began eating away at my food like a starving animal. Glad Master isn't here to see me eat like this or I would be reprimanded for my bad manners. I finished every crumb on my plate and drank the last drop of my milk right as the dining tent was closing up for the night. I felt full and sleepy. The moon was out now and the sky was dimly lit with stars. It was a wonderful site and I realized how different this time flows compared to the Demon Realm. "I could get use to this." I quietly mumbled to myself stargazing then with a large yawn and a tired stretch, I went to Master and I's tent for the night. Master was already well asleep since a Demon Lord always needs his beauty sleep…or at least Ghirahim does, so I quietly walked in and settled down on my cot. Thankfully Master was courteous enough to lay my tattered old blanket down on my bed. I snuggled with the old thing letting it ease my thoughts as I drifted away into a restful sleep.


	18. Training

Training

I did not dream that night…It was strange. I simply floated in a void of emptiness, though I suppose it was better than what's plagued me for a while now since I woke up refreshed.

I sat up on my bed and rubbed my eyes, clearing my vision and wiping away the remnants of sleep. Looking around, I realized it was still dark out and my Master was even still sleeping. How long had I been out? I stood up quietly and stepped outside looking up at the sky. The moon was slowly sinking and a light hue of a reddish-orange began to rise, signaling it was dawn.

I listened and no one but I it seemed was awake. The camp was in complete silence except for chirps of birds. I walk around camp slowly and quietly to ensure I don't wake anyone and visit the stables. Going inside I greeted all the horses as I headed over to the larger stall. Peering inside, I saw Eponine and Epona eating some hay and drinking some water. I slowly slipped into the stall and watched from one corner inside. Epona stuck close to her mother the second she saw me. Eponine didn't seem to care much.

"It's alright, Epona. I'm not going to hurt you." I gently cooed to the young horse and slowly started walking over. Epona backed away from me and I stopped my advances with a sigh. "Good try, but you may need to try more than soft words." A voice from behind stated. I turn and see Batcho softly smiling at me as he too entered the stall and handed me a carrot. "Try feeding her this." He instructed and I nodded, slowly walking over to Epona with carrot outstretched. The young horse seemed conflicted at first then rejected the small offering. I sighed once again with disappointment at my failed attempt. "Hmm, I guess she still needs some time…" Batcho mumbled in thought as he fed the carrot he held to Eponine. "Well, I guess we should start your training." He said simply as he turned, walking out of the stall, out of the stables, then reappearing with, a saddle and reins and laying them on the side of the stall. "We'll be using Eponine for your training. She's a gentle mare and I'm sure you'll learn well on her." He stated then grabbed a brush and some strange metal tool. "Before we start though of course, a horse always needs to be brushed and hooves picked. Now usually we'd take the horses out of their stalls for this but this one has enough room to proceed." Batcho instructed handing me the brush. "This is a part of your training. You'll be brushing and picking her hooves. I'll show you how to pick a hoof but I'm sure you understand how to brush since it's just as simple as brushing once own hair."

I nodded and stepped next to Eponine and began brushing her fur softly, combing out all the loose hair. It took some time but I thoroughly brushed both sides of the mare. Batcho nodded satisfaction as he walked over to his horse. "Now watch carefully, Link, for you need to move fast." He sternly said as he ran his hand down the inside of Eponine's front limb, bringing it all the way down to her hoof. She then lifted it and Batcho grasped it firmly. Taking the metal tool, he then began scraping debris out of the horse's hoof then set the limb back down when he was done. I then saw movement of Eponine's back limb. "This is why you need to be quick. She's already expecting her next hoof to be picked." He stated and tossed me the metal pick realizing it was my turn to try. I did as Batcho did on the first leg and ran my hand down the inside of her leg. When I lifted her hoof it was quite heavy but I kept a good grasp on it and began to scrape the gunk out which was quite a lot. I did this with the next two legs and handed the pick back to Batcho whom smiled. "Good job. She's ready to saddle up."

He grabbed the saddle that had a blanket under it and walked over to the horse. With a steady rocking motion, he easily threw the saddle up and onto Eponine, settling it nicely on her back and tying it around her body to keep it from coming off. Then he took the reins and gently settled them over her head and handed me the ends. "She's ready, Link. All you need to do is hop on." Batcho said and guided me through how to get on which was quite easy. I simply put one of my feet through a stirrup and pulled myself on top. I must say, being on top like this was amazing.

Batcho opened the stall gate helped led me out of the stables and over to a corral. Keeping my balance on the horse as we moved was quite bumpy. I swear a few times I was going to bounce right off, but I held tight and started to move with the horse.

Giving one last inspection Batcho nodded with a smile. "Now the fun begins." He said gleefully. "I want you to try to ease her forward. Get her to walk. Just squeeze your legs slightly on both sides of her giving small pressure." He instructed and I did as he said. Eponine responded well as I applied slight pressure to her sides and she began to walk alongside the fence of the corral. "Excellent." Batcho praised as I continued to walk the mare. I was quickly becoming accustomed to riding in the saddle. Something about it just seemed right. Like I've done this before.

I continued on walking for a few moments longer enjoying the soft breeze. "Let us try and get her into a trot. Apply more pressure to her sides and click your tongue. It may be a bit bumpy at first so hang on." Batcho instructed once and I did as he said. He was quite right too. The ride became incredible bumpy and she was picking up speed fast. "She's wants to do more, Link! Try to get her into a lope! Kick her sides with your heals!" Batcho shouted to me. I tried to but she only got faster with her trot and began to whip me off her back with her speed. I panicked for a moment and held fast to the reins accidentally stopping the mare. She reared up with a protestant neigh and I lost my grip. Next thing I knew I was up against the fence, shocked. When did I fall? It happened so fast.

Batcho quickly came to my side assessing my condition. My side was scraped up from landing against the fence and my head ached probably from hitting it. My left thigh horribly stung and I groaned slightly. "I'm sorry, Link. I should've have made you try to make you get Eponine into a lope so soon until you learned more control." Batcho said, regret obvious in his voice as he practically picked me up, back on my feet, and dusted me off a bit. "Lord Ghirahim will not be pleased once he finds out what has transpired." He groaned and then sighed. I shook my head and gave a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. Just a little banged up. Nothing major and I'll make sure Master fully understands." I stated my tone taking on one of comfort. Batcho sighed once more but a smile crept onto his face. "Now I'd like to try again please." I said to the demon. Batcho ran his fingers through his hair and then nodded. "Alright, again." He answered after what seemed like forever. "You're already acting like a true rider, Link. Getting back in the saddle right after being knocked down. And not only can that be pertained to riding, but it can also be considered a part of a grand personality type." Batcho the hummed as he helped me back into the saddle.

As my lesson went on, I had quickly learned how to control a horse's speed by simply pulling back, but not completely back, on the reins. I was also successfully able to bring Eponine into a "lope." I must say, she was quite graceful in her strides. When I stopped the mares actions she reared up again, but this time I held tight and kept myself on the horse's backside. She settled down and I dismounted her, wiping sweat from my foreheard. Batcho gave a small round of applause. "That was wonderful, Link. You're truly a natural." He stated then went to unsaddle Eponine. "Link, there are two posts behind the stables I want you to bring Eponine over to and tie her in for the moment." He instructed and I simply nodded, taking the reins in hand, I led he horse in between the two posts and tied her to the center post.

The demon then returned with a scrubber and what looked to be soap. "We're going to wash her up before putting her back." He said as he handed me the soap. He then turned on the hose nearby and began to spray down the mare, soaking her short fur. I then lathered her up and scrubbed away quite a bit of dirt that accumulated from our training then Batcho sprayed her once more, washing away the grime and suds. We then quickly dried her and I'm sure the horse felt wonderful after her bath as Batcho put her back into her stall, reuniting with happy neighs with Epona.

I thanked Batcho for the riding lesson and we relaxed in the cool breeze with some iced tea. When I finally left, I started to feel the full sting and ache from my small wounds, especially from my left thigh. I entered Master and I's tent and pulled down my pants slightly to see the damage. Indeed, it was bleeding quite a bit and a large bruise was forming around the wound. I sighed and pulled my pants back up, then took a small roll of gauze with me as I went over to the river nearby. Unclothing myself, I carefully entered the chilly water, completely submerging myself. My cuts hissing from the water but then felt soothing. I washed them carefully, removing any lose and dead skin and helping my flesh scab over slightly. I removed myself from the water and rolled a small bandage around my thigh and returned my clothing to my body. I felt much better and set the remaining gauze in my pocket, heading back to camp.

For a little over a week, I continued on with my riding lessons with Batcho and already he says I was riding like a professional. There was just something about riding that felt so natural whenever I was on the back of Eponine and though my progress with riding was phenomenal, I can't say the same with gaining Epona's trust. That horse truly was a fearful one with strangers but I refuse to give up on her. Though out this time, I remained distant from my Master. He seemed to be always off anyways with things to do now that we've settled here and I can't say that I've not felt relieved. Master and I have grown distant and though I can't help but feel this is a good thing, I fear this could cause issues in the end but I try to ignore those thoughts and carry on with myself day after day and two weeks later I finished my riding lessons and continued working towards gaining Epona's trust.

One more week past and as I was silently reading a book, I heard a large angry roar off in the distance but very close by, along with soldiers shouting, feeling the tension in the air. I closed my book and rushed out to see what was happening. Were we being attacked?! No…instead, I saw the pain of a friend as he tried to escape.


End file.
